Embrace of Solitude
by Psychic-King
Summary: This story asks, what if Naruto and the demon fox really are one and the same? And what if the demon really wasn't that bad a person? just a nice guy content with his love... YAOI! SasuNaru; KakaIru! PG13 for violence, language, situations, so on. COMP
1. Embrace of Wearyness

Ah…. Well, this is my first attempt at a Yaoi/shonen-ai fic, and I'm kind of nervous… The basic plot takes place after the battle with Haku and Zabuza. What I'm really trying is to build a relationship between Sasuke and Naruto this chapter and next (and perhaps the one after… sigh), then I have plans on skipping ahead to the future. I am kind of upset, because the plot isn't moving as quickly as I would have liked, but I decided to put the first chapter out to see if I had any reason to keep writing (in other words, Please review!). FYI, There is also a Kakashi Iruka element to the story.

Embrace of Solitude: Part One?

The sun rose gently over the morning sky, lazily seeping into the shadows and corners, working the darkness out. Naruto squinted in frustration as the sun found its way into his small apartment. Defiantly he rolled over and tried to push the inevitable away, but the sun persisted, and eventually won out, as Naruto dragged his weary eyes open. "Morning, huh?" He said in a dead-pan tone. Ever since that day, two weeks ago, he had secretly been wishing that one day he could just go to bed and not wake up again... Not that he'd been getting more than a couple hours of sleep a night at most.

Naruto shook the unhappy thoughts from his head as he forced himself through his daily routine. Off with the old clothes, on with the new... Sniff... They were starting to reek. 'Of course, I haven't done any laundry since we got back, unless that smell is..." He looked around. The apartment looked as bad as he felt. Week-old Raman cups lay here or there, none of them were eaten. At least he was making the effort to prepare the food. It was an improvement from last week.

Dressing quickly, he stepped out of his apartment. Once it had felt like the only refuge he had in an uncaring, lonely world. The only place to really be by himself, but recently he was thinking too much to be comfortable alone. Visions of death haunted his waking mind. Zabuza, Haku… and Sasuke... Over and over his mind played these visions, and there was something more. The fox's power flowing through him, the desire to kill, the ability to kill- Naruto shook his head before allowing the dark thoughts to enter his mind again. Anything would be better than that.

As Naruto passed through the Market Place he heard the familiar whispers, "Look, it's THAT kid..."

"Shush, he'll hear you..."

"He's so... shabby-looking. Why doesn't he take care of himself?"

"It probably has to do with the you-know-what, I can't imagine that animals take very good care of..."

"Hush! You'll get in trouble!"

Yes, anything was better than that, but not by much. Still, when he was around others he could distract himself. As he would have before, Naruto ignored the woman's gossip, pasting a large, false grin on his face he approached the bridge that he was due to meet the rest of his team at. Distractions... That was what he needed, especially from-

"Ohayo, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto waved energetically, blocking the thoughts. Sakura waved back to him, somewhat less enthusiastic. As usual, Sakura and Sasuke were already there, Kakashi-sensei was nowhere to be seen.

"Mou... Where is Kakashi-sensei? He's really late today." Sakura moaned sadly.

Naruto smiled really big, 'Time to do what we do everyday.' "He's always late! What do you suppose he does? Maybe he's peeping at the ladies bath..."

"No way!" Sakura said, in shock. "He would never do something like..."

"Yeah, but he's always reading that perverted book..." Naruto insisted. 'Thank God... I can think about this, I don't need to remember. Not while I'm with them.'

"Dobe." Sasuke's cold voice broke in. "that's something you would do."

"I would not!" Naruto's voice rose high, "Sasuke, teme..." 'Why did you save me..? I hated you... I never asked for your help... NO!' With tremendous effort Naruto pushed the thoughts back down. 'No.' He thought again, calmer. He pointed his finger at Sasuke. "You bastard! What do you know about anything?" In typical over done Naruto fashion he began storming around, making a fuss.

Sakura raised her hands. "Come on, Naruto, he was only joking. Ne, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto, death in his eyes. "You got a problem with it?" His body moved ever so slightly, proclaiming he was ready to fight.

Naruto's eyes gleamed, "I'm ready." Inwardly he was sighing. He really didn't care what Sasuke said, in fact the truth was that he HAD snuck into the ladies Baths a few times to master his Sexy-no-Jutsu and to help Konohamaru master his. But before that mission he would never have let that remark go unanswered. He couldn't let his teammates know that something was wrong. He couldn't.

"Ohayo!" Kakashi appeared between the two boys. "I'm sorry I was late, I saw a kitten drowning on my way here and-"

Naruto and Sakura yelled in unison, "Liar!"

"Well, then..." Kakashi's eye smiled at his students. "How about some training for today?"

"Hai!" Naruto called loudly, running quickly to Kakashi. "Ano sa, ano sa, where are we gonna train? Huh? Huh?"

"Well, I figured we'd go into the East Forest a bit and-"

"Great!" Naruto jumped into the air and spun in the direction of the East forest. "Sakura-chan, watch me beat Sasuke there!" As the words were said Naruto was already running far ahead of the group.

"Heh." Sasuke grunted, but was that a hint of a smile Sakura saw on his face? "Baka." Sasuke leapt after the yellow haired boy quickly.

Kakashi shrugged and followed at a lazy pace, and Sakura folded her hands in front of her and followed her sensei. "Ano... Sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

She fidgeted slightly. "Have you noticed... Anything weird... About Sasuke recently?"

Kakashi rolled his hidden eye. Sasuke? Yeah, he'd been acting weird. He was worried about the change in Naruto, for Sasuke that was amazingly strange. He wondered briefly if all young girls were like this, or just the ones obsessed with Sasuke. "No, I wouldn't say weird. At least, not any weirder than normal." He smiled kindly at her.

"Oh..." Sakura trailed off slowly. She squinted her eyes, the boys weren't even in seeing distance any longer. "Shouldn't we try and catch up?" Kakashi didn't answer. "Sensei?" Sakura asked again and again she was denied a reply, she stared at the older man in frustration. What was he looking at, anyway? Following the Jounin's eye she saw a large group of Ninja hopefuls. In the front of the group stood Iruka-Sensei. "Oi! Kakashi!" Iruka called, waving his hands.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi's visible eyes was curved happily. "My team is ready when you are."

"Great! Just let me..." Iruka's eyes traveled over his young students before flashing back to Kakashi. "Speaking of your team... Where's Naruto and Sasuke?"

Kakashi's eye curved again, "They went on ahead."

Iruka smiled and nodded. "Let's go catch up with them, then. It's been so long since I've seen Naruto..."

Inner Sakura was boiling with anger. What was this? It didn't take someone of her genius caliber to tell that there was a level to this conversation that wasn't being spoken. 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?'

Sasuke smirked as he easily passed up Naruto and arrived at the forest first. "Oi, dobe, who was going to beat me here?"

Naruto stuck his tong out at the other boy, then looked around. "Heh, doesn't matter... Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei aren't here yet!" He folded his arms behind his head.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're planning on lying to them, aren't you?"

Naruto flashed him an innocent and at the same time devilish grin.

"Huh, see if I care." He watched as Naruto grinned at him deviously. 'He's acting the same as before...' Sasuke followed Naruto out of the corner of his eye, feigning disinterest as the boy pointed at something in the river. 'But that's all it is... acting. Is he still hurting from that mission?' Unbidden the memories surfaced to his mind. The tree climbing training, saving Naruto from the first set of enemies they encountered, the final battle against that boy... The battle in which he almost lost his life trying to save Naruto. Naruto's smile when he realized that Sasuke hadn't really died... Sasuke smiled slightly. These were the thoughts that flashed into his mind whenever he had nothing else to keep himself occupied. He glanced quickly at his blonde teammate... 'I guess I have a... friend...' His countenance darkened as he let that thought roll through his mind. Friends were a needless complication.

"Oi, Sasuke! Look at that stupid-looking fish!" Naruto waved his hands at his teammate. "Doesn't it kinda look like Iruka-sensei?"

"Baka!" Sasuke watched as the old, kind, carefree look returned to Naruto's face and then drained away, letting him glimpse momentarily the darkness that must be plaguing the young ninja. Then the mask was firmly back in place. 'Then again... maybe a little complication wouldn't be so bad right now... for him either.'

"BASTARD, SASUKE!" Naruto's annoyance was growing. It was bad enough to have to play this happy charade; did he really have to take Sasuke's insults, too? He wanted to just walk away, but he'd never do that. Never just walk away. Not if he wanted to be Hokage... Maybe he should have just stayed home today. He was feeling kind of dizzy- NO! With a shake of his head he balled his fists.

"You wanna do something about it?"

"Anytime!" Naruto growled as he jumped into the air. 'My body... So tired...'

Sasuke moved to intercept. 'Does that idiot really think that he could beat me with those kind of openings?' He easily jumped over Naruto's head, slamming his fist into the back of the blonde boy's head. "Too slow!" Naruto's body went slamming into the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud. Sasuke landed a few feet away from the other boy, still in defensive pose. "Oi! Come on! Are you just gonna lie there?" Naruto remained on the ground, showing no signs of motion. "Come on, you think I'd fall for that old trick? You're such a coward... GET UP AND FIGHT ME!" After a long, unresponsive pause, Sasuke finally began to worry. "Oi! Naruto..." He cautiously walked closer to his enemy's body. He was breathing, but it was shallow, his face had dropped the mask, pain etched itself across the suddenly fragile looking features-

The sound of shuffling in the trees reminded Sasuke of his approaching sensei, "Kakashi-sensei! Something's wrong with Naru-"

Before the words were completely out of his mouth both Kakashia and Iruka were jumping into view. Iruka jumped quickly to Naruto's side. Sakura jumped from a tall tree branch as well, looking at Sasuke with worried eyes be fore glancing to Naruto. "Is he OK, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka looked up at Sakura. "He just has a small bump on his head. It's nothing compared to the kind of beatings he gets for fooling around. I think Naruto just passed out from exhaustion." He glanced at Kakashi. "Has he been sleeping recently? He looks like he hasn't been eating, either."

Kakashi gently pried the boy from Iruka's grip. "Hai, well, I'll just take him to the hospital now, shall I?"

Iruka gave Kakashi a dark look as the Jounin carried Naruto away. "I'll meet you there in an hour." Turning to his students with an apologetic smile he said, "Gomen, mina, but we'll have to end training here for today."

A little boy with a ridiculously long scarf stepped up, "Iruka-sensei? Is Naruto-niicahn going to be OK?" Sakura nodded. That was Konohamaru, Naruto's little playmate.

Iruka smiled and nodded, "The doctors will be able to help him, Konohamaru."

"Demo..." the boy insisted, "He looked really sad..." The boy fixed his gaze on Sasuke. Finger out stretched, he called, "This must be your fault! Kisama! Naruto-nii wouldn't loose to someone like you!"

"Ma, ma!" Iruka stepped in, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Sasuke had nothing to do with this, Konohamaru. Naruto is just a little sick, ne, Sasuke-kun?"

"Whatever." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sasuke turned in the direction of town.

"Hey, wait up, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called, chasing after him quickly.

Iruka looked at his dozen students. 'I somehow got left taking the kids home alone.' With a sigh he began rounding the children up.

Sasuke growled in annoyance. Two hours had passed and the idiot Sakura girl was still following him. He had been hoping to loose her and then head to the hospital, but if she hadn't given up yet, he was starting to loose hope. Of course, he could have just hid from her, but... She might cheer up Naruto. That decided Sasuke turned in the direction of the hospital.

"Where are we going, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, slightly annoyed. The only thing in that direction was the hospital, and, although she was worried about Naruto, she wasn't eager to end her personal time with Sasuke...

"I want to see how Naruto's doing." Sasuke said in a tone that implied she really need not follow.

"Yeah..." Sakura was slightly shaken by his tone. "I'm worried about him, too." Sakura followed the dark haired boy, not really paying attention to what was around her. 'He's with me and he's thinking about Naruto! What the Hell?' Inner Sakura stormed, but part of her knew, to Sasuke, who cared only for power, Naruto was far more valuable than she was. Sakura was so lost in her own thought that when Sasuke suddenly stopped walking she slammed right into his back. "Sa-" Her words were cut short by a hand over her mouth.

Sasuke put his finger to his lips, then pointed around the corner of the hospital. Sakura's eyes landed on Kakashi and Iruka. Motioning for her to be quiet, Sasuke crept closer to the two men, who were apparently in heated discussion.

"Two weeks, Kakashi." Iruka said, in a tone filled with emotion. "Two weeks since he ate. At least. Considering his high constitution, I'd bet it's been more like a month. And he hasn't been sleeping..." As they crept closer Sakura thought she could see the man shaking.

Kakashi placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Iruka-"

Iruka shook the gloved hand off. "Don't tell me that. I'm the closest thing to family that boy's ever had, and I didn't notice that he needed me? How could I have missed something like him not eating? How long has it been since I bothered to stop by his place to check up on him? How long since I treated him to some ramen? Gods! I'm so stupid. I've been so busy with... everything else that I neglected the only person that really needs me."

"That's not true." Kakashi said gently.

Iruka glared at him defiantly. "No? I've been a terrible brother figure to Naruto recently. Do you know how much PAIN just existing must cause for him? The adults in this town treat him like a monster, the children learn and react to their parents fears. But I've never heard him complain, never seen him cry... Not about what he should feel really upset about. The loveless childhood, the hatred directed at him, just because the people of this town are terrified of what he reminds them of..." Sakura could definitely see the man shaking now, large tears poured freely down his face.

Kakashi's arms snaked out and encircled Iruka, the shorter man accepted the embrace. "Don't blame yourself, Iruka. Please." Kakashi's voice also sounded filled with emotion. "Don't regret what we've worked so hard to build this last month..."

"I don't regret my time with you, Kakashi, really, but... Couldn't I have had time for both? There's room in my heart for more than one person, right?"

"I hope so," Kakashi responded, voice a little lighter. "because I don't want to be pushed out." Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.

Iruka gave a teary laugh. "Small chance of that happening." He wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck.

"I certainly hope so, koi," Kakashi pulled his face mask down, "I hope so..."

Sakura felt a hot blush cover her face as she watched the two men lean together for a kiss. 'I-I shouldn't be watching this... I never knew that they... HOW THE HELL COULD I HAVE MISSED THAT THE TWO OF THEM WERE IN LOVE?' Sakura scrapped her jaw off the floor and glanced over at Sasuke. His face was collected as he motioned that they should leave the men alone, but there was a line in his forehead. Someone that spent as much time following and thinking about Sasuke as Sakura did knew that meant he was agitated about something. She wondered briefly, blushing furiously as she did so, if Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei's relationship bothered him.

Once they were a discrete, out of sight, distance from the lovers Sasuke turned to glare at Sakura. "Don't talk about this to anyone."

Taken slightly aback, she could only nod. He was being shorter than he usually was. "Good," Sasuke replied. "Go home. I want to talk to the moron alone." And with that Sasuke turned and left a bewildered Sakura standing at the entrance to the hospital. Her mind was too full for even Inner Sakura to put up a fight, so she turned and headed home, a blank look in her eyes, and a faint blush on her face.

Sasuke nodded. It was easier to get rid of that girl than he thought.

Naruto let the curtain fall from his hands as Kakashi and Iruka deepened their kiss.

"It's about time." Naruto jumped and spun around on his bed. The speaker was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. "Don't you think?"

"Sasuke! Bastard! How dare you scare me like that?" Naruto screamed, finger aimed, mask slipping back into place.

"Stop it, idiot." Sasuke walked to the edge of Naruto's bed, tentatively sitting down.

Naruto's head dropped, for a moment Sasuke thought the boy was crying, but then he raised his eyes to stare strait at Sasuke. The usually detached boy's eyes widened in surprise, this was a completely different Naruto. The face was still the one he saw every day, but the expression, the eyes, so dark, so serious… so sorrowful... It was the first time Naruto ever lowered his defenses in Sasuke's presence. "Idiot? Yeah... I am." He moved his eyes away from Sasuke, glancing around the room without really taking anything in. "I guess I never said 'Thank you' for what you did for me that time. So..." He dragged his eyes back to Sasuke's face, and then bowed his head deeply. "Thank you." Rising his head back up, "But don't EVER do that again. You can't die until you acknowledge that I'm stronger than you."

"Heh." Sasuke was glad that even this Naruto preached the same thing. "It'll be a million years before you beat me if you keep acting like a moron." Noting the fact that Naruto seemed to understand what he meant Sasuke continued. "I'm not good with this sort of thing, but... You've been having problems since that mission, right?" Sasuke waited for some affirmation before continuing. "You're going to have to get used to it. In the future we will have to kill and watch people die, it's not avoidable. When we enter the Chonin exam we may meet people from other villages, later we may have to kill those we meet... One day we may even have to fight each other." Sasuke moved slightly closer to Naruto and sighed, "I guess what I'm getting at is it's not getting any easier from here on in. If you don't want to see people you care about getting hurt, stop here."

Naruto shook his head viciously. "I'll fight." A determination in his eyes froze Sasuke to the bed, shaking him to his very soul. "So that those I care about don't have to die. I don't want to ever see two people with so much life ahead of them die again, I don't want to ever see a child grow up alone because their parents were killed in some dumb battle, and I don't want to see you die by jumping in front of an attack that was meant for me. Ever again."

Sasuke watched helplessly as the blonde began to shake, burying his head in his knees. Tentatively, he reached a hand to touch the shaking boy's back. "I'm sorry."

Under the warmth of Sasuke's hand Naruto's body seemed to relax completely. He allowed Sasuke to push him backwards, so his back rested against the frame of the bed, and scooted over a bit. Sasuke immediately settled himself onto the bed next to the blonde. In no time, the exhausted boy's head had dropped onto Sasuke's shoulder; breathe evening out to that of a deep slumber.

Sasuke wasn't sure how long he sat that way, with a sleeping Naruto on his shoulder, but he found himself watching the boy's face. "He looks so angelic this way, doesn't he?" Sasuke managed to stop himself from jumping in surprise and glared at the intruding speaker.

Iruka was not about to let his former student intimidate him. "Thank you for sitting with him, Sasuke. You can go home now, if you want."

"What I want is some answers, but that can wait." Sasuke gave the sleeping Naruto a pointed glance, then returned his glare to Iruka, who magically had a Kakashi suddenly peek over his shoulder.

"Hai, Hai, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi intoned, pulling something shiny out of his vest. Sasuke's eyes widened as Kakashi snapped a quick photo of Naruto cuddling to Sasuke's chest.

A low growl emitted from Sasuke's lips, a warning of what he would do if Kakashi allowed that picture to be distributed. Kakashi laughed and held his hands up, "Don't worry Sasuke, this picture is for Iruka's eyes only. He was just commenting that he didn't have enough pictures of Naruto and now here he is, looking so angelic. I couldn't pass up the chance to make Iruka happy, now could I?" His only visible eye hadn't glanced at Sasuke once while he spoke, all his focus on Iruka's suddenly happy blush. With a small wave Kakashi escorted his companion out the door. "Maybe I'll make a copy of the picture for you. Later."

Sighing Sasuke settled a bit more comfortably in the hospital bed. "You know, Naruto, for someone that isn't used to sleeping around other people, you sure assimilated to it quickly."

Anyone who's reading this for the second or third time may notice that I have edited out my author's notes for this chapter. That was because, in the first chapter, I felt they were not necessary. I think they distract the readers… anyway, I'm in the process of re-editing each chapter, so I can re post them, that's all. By the way, when you finish this, make sure to read its sequel, Exodus!


	2. Embrace of Dreaming

Psychic King: *energetic wave* Hi all you readers!!!! Welcome to chapter two of my lovely story!!! I know I promised you angst last chapter and I delivered you fluff... *hanging head* I am SO ashamed... *brightening* But I can always deliver this chapter, right?  
  
Naruto: *Looking out into the empty darkness* what are you doing, old hag?  
  
Psychic King: Talking to my readers, of course!  
  
Naruto: *straining eyes* what readers? I can't see anyone.  
  
Sakura: Obviously, no one wants to read your story, Psychic King Paula- sama. Now, if you were to change the focus to Sasuke's undying live for ME, maybe you'd get a slightly better audience.  
  
Sasuke: *muttering* I think I'd rather take my chances with Naruto, thank you very much.  
  
Psychic King: I HEARD that! *raises a fist jovially in the air* that was the encouragement I needed to write the next chapter! Yes! Thanks Sasuke!!!!  
  
Naruto: *looking enquiringly at Sasuke* what did you say?  
  
Sasuke: *speaking a little too quickly* Nothing! She must be hearing things... *glances quickly away from Naruto, blushing*  
  
Kakashi: *elbowing Psychic King* See, I told you he'd come around to the idea.  
  
Naruto: *innocently* who'd come around to what?  
  
Sasuke: *grabs Naruto's arm and quickly drags him off screen, shooting vicious glares at Kakashi and Psychic King*  
  
Psychic King: Do you think he's 'explaining' it to Naruto right now? *raising eyebrows suggestively*  
  
Iruka: *going into Big Brother mode* He'd better not lay a finger on my little Naruto! *yelling and shaking a fist in the direction that Sasuke and Naruto just went* you hear that, Uuchia?? Keep your dirty little hands off!  
  
Kakashi: *playing absently with Iruka's vest* Now, koi, you and I both know that his 'hands' are the least of Naruto's worries. Why, with Sasuke's repressed hormones I give it about ten more minutes before-  
  
Iruka: *runs off in the direction Sasuke took Naruto, throwing stars in hand* Naruto!! Iruka's coming, hold on!!!!  
  
Kakashi: *looking mildly at Psychic King* Do you think he'll realize I was kidding before or after he kills Sasuke?  
  
Psychic King: *waving it off* Ah well. Whichever.  
  
Kakashi: *placing hands in pockets and heading after Iruka* I'd better go do some 'damage control.' *waves without turning his head*  
  
Psychic King: *blushing* Kakashi-sensei... You are SO COOL!!!! *waves overly enthusiastically at Kakashi's retreating figure well after it's disappeared*  
  
Sakura: What was that all about? *looks around, realizing that she's been left alone with Psychic King* I better... Go find Sasuke and make sure that nothing's wrong with-  
  
Psychic King: *grabbing Sakura's shoulders* Now it's just us girls... *grinning wickedly*  
  
Sakura: *gulping* But I REALLY should be stalking Sasuke right now...  
  
Psychic King: Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit! *ties rope around Sakura* Ah, before I loose track of myself, I should mention that the Psychic King doesn't own in any way shape of form Naruto, but she DOES own one fencing foil, one breaking computer, and one pair of black shoes with holes all over them-  
  
Sakura: *struggling desperately to escape her ropes* She's lying, mina- san! She doesn't even own the fencing foil, it's her father's and she stole it! Someone call the police! She's evil! EVIL!!!!  
  
Psychic King: *chuckling* what do you know? It IS my father's foil... Anyway, for now, please enjoy the second installment of 'Embrace of Solitude!' *turning seriously to the readers* really everyone, I'm very sorry. I actually had this chapter written and then my computer crashed. Before I could get it fixed I had to go out of town for the holidays. But it's fixed now and I decided to do some quick changes and now the story is posted! THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! If there is anyone out there that is still interested in reading my story, I would like to thank you for your patience! I promise that I will get chapter 3 up in a much more timely fashion (well before I start school again on the 20th).  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude Chapter 2  
  
Naruto awoke with a start. The room he was in was wrong, and what was that warmth next to him? Was the sun already up? It was way too bright where ever he was for it to be morning. Large blue eyes opened wide and fell upon jet black hair. "Sasuke?" A brief memory of being in the hospital flashed through Naruto's mind.  
  
The dark haired boy slowly opened a sleepy eye, then the other. "Finally awake, huh?" Sasuke took a moment to stretch and shake the sleep from his mind. "You've been sleeping for the last 14 hours."  
  
A wave of shock over took Naruto as he realized that for the first time since the mission he had slept for more than three hours at a time. Even more shocking was the realization that Sasuke must have stayed with him the whole time. "Why didn't you just go home?"  
  
Sasuke shrugged. "You had a death grip on me most of the night, I couldn't have left without waking you up, and you obviously needed the rest. But now that your awake, they're probably gonna want you out of here fast." He watched Naruto closely, knowing his words were likely to sting the other boy. As he expected, Naruto's head fell slightly, and a bit of the exhaustion that had disappeared from the young face crept back.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I've been a real pain in the ass." The blonde moved quickly towards his jacket and pants that lay at the end of his bed. Without looking around, he pulled his clothes on quickly and moved towards the door. "Well, Sasuke-bastard, it's been real fun, but-"  
  
"You can stay at my place." Those quiet words stopped the hyper- active boy in his tracks. "It's not like I don't have the room, and I could use the company."  
  
Naruto felt a little defeated. No one besides Iruka ever in his whole life invited him to their home, and here Sasuke was asking him to stay with him. "I-" He hung his head, he didn't want Sasuke's pity, didn't need it, and he certainly didn't want the other boy treating him like some sort of freak. "I don't think so."  
  
Sasuke smirked. "I wasn't asking, dobe." Hands in pockets, he walked out of the hospital room, leaving Naruto to ponder his words.  
  
"DON'T CALL ME DOBE, BASTARD!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sasuke wasn't kidding when he said he had the room." Naruto mumbled as he turned down yet another corner in the Uuchia mansion. With a growl of frustration he yelled, "Where do rich people hide their bathrooms?"  
  
It had been two days since Naruto moved into the enormous house Sasuke called home, and he was beginning to regret not asking Sasuke to draw him a map before he tried 'exploring' the second floor. An idea struck him as he opened the door of yet another empty room. "I'll just jump out the window to the first floor, where I KNOW there's a bathroom!"  
  
He was in the middle of executing said plan when he heard Iruka's voice sounding from outside. "Thank you of having us over, Sasuke."  
  
"I didn't say you could come in." Was Sasuke's blunt reply. Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke really was a bastard sometimes.  
  
A mischievous grin covered Naruto's face as he spotted a way to climb from the window to a nearby tree, a chance to surprise Sasuke, who was standing outside talking to Iruka... If he could just move quietly enough to the next lower branch, he could- "Oi! Naruto, good to see you moving around!" Kakashi waved down to him from his spot higher up in the tree.  
  
"Kuso!" He cursed as his grip on the tree slipped.  
  
Sasuke looked up in horror as Naruto came flailing out of the sky to land directly on his head. The two boys lay on the ground in a tangled clump. Sasuke was about to snap at the blonde, when the faint muffled sound of laughter and clicking reached his ears.  
  
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, but that was so funny!" Iruka doubled in laughter, trying momentarily to help the boys up, but quickly giving up as tears of laughter reached his eyes. Sasuke scanned the tree for Kakashi and more importantly the camera that Kakashi suddenly seemed to carry around with him everywhere, but the man had already vanished from sight only to reappear next to his lover a moment latter, camera already hidden from sight.  
  
Sasuke spared a glare for the older men, but Naruto was impatient as always and pushed the dark haired boy away from him and jumped to his feet. "Iruka-sensei! Are you here to buy me Ramen? You wouldn't believe the crap this guy eats!"  
  
"Humph." Sasuke replied, "If you're gonna complain, cook for yourself, dobe."  
  
"Uh... Sasuke, I wouldn't ask him to do that if I were you." Iruka interjected, fearing for the health of his former students.  
  
"Huh!" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest indignantly. "I'll have you know I make the best instant Ramen ever."  
  
Sasuke looked like he had a sharp answer to that, but Kakashi quickly interjected, fearing a long battle would ensue if both boys were left to their own devices. "Ah, but, no, we didn't come here to buy anyone Ramen."  
  
"But since we're here, we might as well treat the boys, right Kakashi?" Iruka added.  
  
Naruto jumped for joy while Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kakashi sent a put-out look Iruka's way, but one glance at the brunettes imploring eyes and he was putty in his hands. "Alright. How's this, I'll go pick up some carry-out and Iruka can chat with you, OK?"  
  
"Wait, I'll go with you." Sasuke opened the door to his house and directed Iruka to the kitchen sitting area while Naruto ran off to finally relieve himself. "Naruto likes Miso ramen, right?"  
  
Iruka gave Sasuke a surprised nod and watched the boy as he headed out of the kitchen, passing Naruto as he walked in. "Get some tea ready for when we get back." Iruka was even more surprised when Naruto simply nodded.  
  
Naruto looked at Iruka kind of apprehensively when they were finally left alone, fearing what the older teacher was bound to ask about, but Iruka was just smiling at him. "Naruto, why don't you show me where you keep the tea, and I'll get that started."  
  
Naruto smiled as he showed Iruka around the kitchen. "So, you and Kakashi, eh?"  
  
Iruka blushed. "You noticed?"  
  
"Yeah, I saw you two outside the hospital after I woke up the first time." He blushed a bit. "Is... everything going well with that?"  
  
Iruka nodded, face breaking out into a small blush of his own. "I'm very happy with him."  
  
"I'm glad, even if he is a weird pervert."  
  
"He is a little different..." Iruka's face regained its serious composure. "Naruto, I'm worried about you. I don't think you should be living alone right now, granted, but do you really think that living here is the best alternative? You are always more than welcome to stay at my house-"  
  
Naruto cut him off with a dismissal wave. "Naw, You're place would be pretty tight with three of us there all the time, and Sasuke's house is huge enough to fit both of us. Not that I don't still hate the arrogant bastard!" He added quickly.  
  
"I should be saying that about you." A cool voice broke into the two's conversation.  
  
"Sasuke! If you weren't carrying my food I'd beat the crap out of you right now!"  
  
"And if you weren't an idiot I might believe you."  
  
Naruto stood suddenly and might have made good on his earlier threat regardless of the food if it hadn't been for Kakashi's restraining hand. "Ma, ma, fight after we leave, OK? For now enjoy time with Iruka."  
  
Naruto nodded and Iruka sighed in relief. "I don't know how you handle it, Sasuke. I'm surprised the two of you haven't torn each other's heads off."  
  
Naruto and Sasuke looked at one another in surprise. "We don't really fight... when no one else is here." Naruto said simply.  
  
"Ah... How interesting." Kakashi intoned, handing Iruka his Ramen. Iruka nodded, almost dropping the food, continuing to send shocked stares towards his former students.  
  
Naruto settled himself onto a chair, grinning from ear to ear. "Ramen! Ramen!" Was the slight chant he sang, disturbed only when he placed the steaming hot noodles in his mouth. With the exception of Naruto's constant singing/humming and the occasional slurping sound (again, mostly from Naruto) the remainder of the meal was spent in nice, companionable silence.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Naruto." A soft, feminine voice called playfully. The blonde head turned towards the faint sound as it repeated. "Naruto! Come to me. Come to me, Naruto."  
  
Naruto's head swiveled again, as the sound echoed from another direction. The only thing he could see was the endless darkness surrounding him. "Who are you? Where are you?"  
  
"Naruto... NARUTO!" Naruto began to run wildly in every direction, ANY direction as the sound went from playful to desperate. "It hurts! Naruto, please! Why won't you help me?"  
  
"WHERE ARE YOU? I can't see you!" A light flashed ahead of him and he took off towards it.  
  
"Hurry, Naruto! It hurts so much! Help me!"  
  
Head down, running faster than he ever had before, Naruto reached the source of light, a large field. His eyes darted around, but there was no one to be seen. "Shit!" He cursed as the screams became even more desperate. When her screams reached their peak the ground began to tremble beneath him and the earth opened before his feet. From the ground rose several tall spikes, Naruto jumped back in surprise. The screaming was unbearably loud now as other, recognizable voices joined in. The blonde sat in fixated terror as everyone he knew, everyone that recognized his existence, slowly raised, bodies impaled with the spikes. Dead, pale faces screamed in torment. "Iruka. Kakashi-sensei. Sakura-chan." he felt his feet involuntarily backing him away from the grizzly scene. "Sa-" his body lost the ability to move as he spotted a face that seemed paler than the others, or maybe it was just an illusion brought about by the complete darkness of the hair that framed his beautiful face. "Sasuke!"  
  
Anger like none he had ever felt rose venomously in the pit of Naruto's stomach. An animalistic growl ripped from his lips, as he tried desperately to reach his friend's bodies, to free them from their torment, but his body was frozen, some unknown force holding him securely in place. The screams suddenly stopped, though the faces continued to twist in sightless agony. A slender hand reached from behind Naruto to stroke his face. He could hear the voice from before sobbing quietly.  
  
"Who the hell are you, lady?" He could feel his control slipping, the demon inside responding to his anger, but still he could not move.  
  
One by one Naruto watched his friends bodies disappear, until all that remained was Sasuke, spike still gleaming through his chest. The woman floated around Naruto, and went to stand next to the dark boy. Naruto felt a bit of his rage fade as he stared at the woman's tortured face. She had long, fiery red hair, eyes the color of the greenest grass and skin the color of pale moonlight. An anguished cry escaped her ruby lips as a spike rose slowly from the ground next to Sasuke's. The woman made no move to avoid it, rather, standing like one mesmerized, allowed the spike to slowly pierce through her chest. Naruto watched in terror as her body gently slid down the spike, leaving bright streaks of red blood as its trail. The sounds of her and Sasuke screaming once again filled the air.  
  
"Stop it!" Naruto screamed, struggling once again to break free.  
  
"Stop?" A low vicious growl was the reply. The voice was so twisted and angry that Naruto could not detect wither it was a man or a woman, but he could feel just in the growl the over whelming power that its owner possessed. "Stop?" Laughter mingled with the sounds of torment. "It's like music. Don't you agree? The screams of the one you loved most. Don't you remember Illia, your precious human lover? Have you forgotten everything?" The woman, Illia, faded slightly as the voice turned its focus on Sasuke. "No matter, that's why this one is so useful. Tsk, tsk. Not gone 20 years and already you found a replacement? I guess that Love bullshit isn't worth much these days. But it's enough, isn't it?"  
  
The spike through Sasuke suddenly jetted higher in the air and Naruto screamed in rage as he watched the boy's body slowly slide down the spike until the spike was too wide for him to fall any farther. The fresh blood glistened brightly as it trickled down the spike until a pool lay on the ground underneath him. The voice cackled. "I like that sound. Just like the one you made 12 years ago. Remember? When I attacked those poor Ninjas and you got trapped in that form? No? I suppose you wouldn't, part of that pretty seal of yours. So I suppose you also don't remember me? Maybe it's not fair, punishing you for something that you don't even know happened?" The voice took on a thoughtful tone before turning venomous again. "But then again, what you did to me wasn't fair either, and I'll NEVER forgive you for what you did that day. I'm gonna take my revenge one by one out of everyone you love, Naruto-kun. Thank you so much for letting me see their faces in your dreams."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Naruto screamed. "Who the hell are you?" Even as he screamed the vision was fading, the voice and screams dimming.  
  
The wheezing laughter was the last thing Naruto heard before his eyes snapped open. With a start his body rocketed to a sitting position, glazed eyes darting to and fro before reality sunk in. It had all been a dream. He sucked in a few calming breaths, trying desperately to figure out where he was.  
  
"Oi, baka." A gruff voice sounded from somewhere in the room. "Would you mind? Some of us are trying to sleep."  
  
For a moment all Naruto could see was Sasuke's face, paled by death; matted hair clinging to the clammy, pasty skin; dark, sightless eyes screaming in agonizing pain. And then the vision cleared as the irritable dark eyed boy moved closer. Naruto could feel himself shaking, could feel sticky sweat covering his body, soaking his pajamas.  
  
Sasuke's face took on a concerned look as he moved from the doorway of Naruto's room to stand next to the trembling boy. "Hey." He grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shook the boy hard, "are you alright?" Glassy blue eyes gleamed up at the dark boy. 'Kuso!' Sasuke's mind screamed. 'Something's sent him into shock.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic-King: Well, I hope any readers I still have are happy! Not only are they living together, but I've introduced a plot as well! An ORRIGNIAL plot! *dancing* I am so cool! I am so cool! *pats a tied up Sakura on the head, and momentarily removes the gag*  
  
Sakura: For one thing, I was not in this chapter at ALL.  
  
Psychic king: Yeah, and wasn't it so much better because of that? *smiling* just kidding! You know I love you! Or at least I will when you stop with the Sasuke thing. Maybe I should add a nice Sakura/Lee romance?  
  
Sakura: *muttering under her breath* Maybe you should add a nice foot in your so-called writing mouth.  
  
Psychic King: What?  
  
Sakura: *innocently* Nothing, Psychic-King-sama! Anyway, for another thing, HOW can you say that Naruto and Sasuke are living together? Sure in the same house, but not even in the same bed room, do you really think that will make the fan-girls happy?  
  
Psychic King: *Raising eyebrows* Good point, Sakura. Maybe I need to advance the relationship faster.  
  
Sakura: *quickly* NO! *regaining composure* I mean, your speed is fine, maybe even too fast! You just can't make claims that haven't happened. Another thing is I wouldn't really call your plot 'original.'  
  
Psychic King: *genuinely confused* Why not? I've never read a fanfic with a plot like this one.  
  
Sakura: *in lecture mode* Well, for one thing, you haven't read all the Naruto fanfics, so there very well could be one like this out there. For another, you just aren't good enough to come up with a completely original plot. Admit it, you based the fox demon's dead girlfriend off some girl from Highlander, didn't you?  
  
Psychic King: *looking away* did not. But, point taken. *sighing* anything else, oh great teacher?  
  
Sakura: Um. Yeah. Would you mind untying me now? The guys are on their way back, and I don't want them to think I had ANYTHING to do with that piece of drivel up there.  
  
Psychic King: *defeated* Fine! *unties Sakura and then crosses arms* Humph.  
  
Naruto: *scared* Iruka-sensei. I didn't know you were that scary. It's a good thing Kakashi-sensei came and pulled you off Sasuke, or you might have killed him!  
  
Iruka: *arms crossed, back turned to Kakashi* If SOMEONE hadn't planted dark thoughts in my head I would have had no reason to maim Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke: *wrapped from head to toe in bandages, but still glaring daggers* Mumph! Mmumanm mumph!  
  
Kakashi: Come on, Iruka, no harm done! It was just a joke! *gently caresses Iruka's face*  
  
Iruka: *turning slightly towards Kakashi* I suppose you're right. *turns and embraces Kakashi* I can't stay mad at you anyway.  
  
Sasuke: *moving like an indignant mummy* Mummh! Mummph umm! *trips on a stray bandage and falls on his face*  
  
Naruto: *sitting on the prone Sasuke* isn't that sweet, Sasuke? They made up!  
  
Sakura: Naruto! How DARE you sit on Sasuke!  
  
Kakashi: Actually, one day Sasuke might WANT- *stops talking as Iruka hits his arm hard* Ow, never mind.  
  
Psychic King: Anyway!! *turning to the readers* Well. Is it terrible? Should I stop writing? I tried to leave it off at a place where it would be dramatic, but perhaps it was just silly. Anyway, comments, criticism, blind adoration, heck, even just to tell me how your day went! Anything is appreciated! 


	3. Embrace of Story Telling

Psychic King: Aloha to all my wonderful readers!!!!!! Even though you should learn to hate me, you continue on the path of reading! I am SO HAPPY! *jumps up and down in Psychic King Space* 2-4-6-8 who do I appreciate! Readers! Readers! YAAAAYYYY readers!!!!!!  
  
Naruto: What the heck are you all riled up about?  
  
Psychic King: *suddenly calming down* I don't know. *poses in a thoughtful stance* What AM I excited about? Hum.  
  
Sasuke: *Walking on screen* what the heck's up with her? She left off that freakn' story at a cliff hanger, I figured that she'd be writing like a maniac to avoid negative reviews.  
  
Naruto: She seems kind of introspective today.  
  
Sakura: *appearing from nowhere* I wonder if it's that time of the month?  
  
Naruto: What time?  
  
Sakura: You know! Her MONTHLY visitor?  
  
Naruto: What the heck are you talking about?  
  
Sakura: *getting peevish* her trip from Aunt Flow???  
  
Naruto: *still blank* I have no idea WHAT you are talking about, but if her aunt's in town I guess that explains why she hasn't updated yet.  
  
Iruka: *walking on screen with Kakashi* Perhaps this isn't the best conversation to have right now? After all you are all still very young.  
  
Psychic King: *some how floating through the air* I feel rather strange today.  
  
Kakashi: Maybe she's gone over the deep end?  
  
Sasuke: No, she did that a long time ago.  
  
Naruto: *innocently acting as the disclaimer* Maybe she's just upset because she doesn't own us again and that we belong to the respective companies and people that are actually making money off us, because she sure as heck isn't.  
  
Sakura: Uh, yeah. *muttering* still think it's her feminine time'  
  
Psychic King: I HEARD that Sakura! *shooting the girl with a squirt gun* you are SO wrong! *blows raspberry at Sakura* Naruto! *turns big eyes towards Naruto* Lets go somewhere fun, just the two of us, please!!!! *puts on the pouting face* I want to have FUN!!  
  
Naruto: Sure! We can go to the arcade! I've always wanted to do that!  
  
Psychic King: Yay!!! Arcade!!!! *patting Naruto's head* It's a date, let's go!  
  
Sasuke: *to their retreating backs* It is NOT a date! *glares*  
  
Kakashi: Well, if you are really worried about it, why don't we follow them? *loops arm around Iruka*  
  
Sakura: *Batting eyelashes at Sasuke* Yeah, why don't we go together?  
  
Inner Sakura: *raging in the background* HELL YEAH! Finally a chance to get Sasuke out on a date!  
  
Iruka: *to the audience* Oh dear, this might take a while. Please read this story while you wait.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude Chapter 3 PG 13 because I want it to be. =P  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Naruto's eyes rolled towards the back of his head. The room was suddenly bright and someone was shaking him harshly. It was hard to orient himself in this environment.  
  
"Naruto, get a hold of yourself!" A sudden sharp sting across his cheek snapped his mind back to reality.  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto gasped, noticing suddenly that the boy in question was currently straddling him on his bed. The blonde wiggled out from underneath the concerned boy quickly.  
  
Sasuke's face broke into a rare smile. "Dobe."  
  
Naruto felt a slight blush creeping into his face at the sight. He really looked good when he smiled. Like he was nothing more than human, no longer the superman he tried to present himself as. Unbidden his dream returned to him. The one most precious to him? Sasuke? No. It wasn't true, wasn't POSSIBLE. Naruto jumped up as if the bed were on fire, landing on all fours in the corner, like a frightened animal.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke demanded, smile wiped from his face.  
  
"Nothing!" Naruto spat. "Just get away from me!"  
  
Anger quickly contorted Sasuke's face, but in his eyes there was something else. Was that FEAR Naruto smelled coming from him? Naruto viciously shook the thought from his head, 'I can't SMELL fear!'  
  
"Fine, dobe. Next time I'll let you scream your throat dry." Sasuke said, walking towards the door.  
  
Naruto remained in his crouched position until the dark, questioning eyes were gone, until the click of Sasuke's door reached his ears, only then did he allow himself to relax a bit. "Ok, Uzumaki, think." As was his tendency when presented with a serious problem Naruto began to pace and talk out loud to himself (a habit learned from Iruka, of all people). "What was up with that dream? Hum. OK, the woman's voice at the beginning was the woman that came up latter on and got stabbed next to Sasuke. According to the dream she was my- the FOX DEMON'S- dead lover. I'm not that damn demon! And then there was Kakashi and Iruka and Sakura. All dead, all screaming." Naruto rubbed feverishly at his face. "And then there was that voice. Condemning me for something that damn monster did. What's that gotta do with me? Doesn't matter, the whole town blames me for that thing's messes." Heaving a large sigh he shifted his train of thought. "The voice wasn't human, couldn't have been. I've never heard anything like it. Can you come up with new sounds in your dreams? Hum." He contemplated this quietly for a moment. "But maybe it was one of the fox's memories and it just threw itself into my dream. That woman. She kind of looked like Sakura-chan! Just. A more grown up Sakura-chan with more reddish hair than pink." A faint blush crept into his checks. "If Sakura-chan grows up to look like that, she'll be even more beautiful. And then I can do this and that and. heh heh."  
  
His joviality ended as the memory of Sasuke's screams went through his mind again and he remembered Sakura's dead face as well. "Sasuke." His voice came out as a painful whisper. "You lying bastard. I wasn't ever supposed to see you die again."  
  
Sasuke lay in his bed and listened to the pained breathing through the paper thin walls of his traditional Japanese style house, only two thoughts going through his mind. The first he couldn't help but wonder, was what was Naruto thinking, talking about his problems out loud? He KNEW the house wasn't sound proof. The other thought, the one he tried desperately to push away until morning was, what did Naruto have to do with the fox demon?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The sun rose only two hours after Naruto woke from his strange, hideous dream. Both Naruto and Sasuke were grateful, as neither was able to return to sleep after the incident. Naruto eventually came to the silent conclusion that he needed to talk to someone about history, while Sasuke decided that it was time to finally get some answers to the question that had been boiling in his brain since that day at the hospital.  
  
"Morning." Naruto called feigning sleepiness.  
  
"Hrum." Sasuke snorted with a small nod, also pretending to have just woken up.  
  
"Hey, Sasuke, you know where they keep the records of Ninja and non-Ninja from around 10-15 years ago?"  
  
Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, but he shook his head. "Why's a dobe like you want to know about something like that?"  
  
"I just. Something in a dream I had." Naruto shook his preoccupied head before adding, off handedly, "Don't call me dobe, bastard."  
  
"Hum." The dark headed boy put two plates down and directed his companion to the breakfast table. "Did it have anything to do with the fox demon?"  
  
"Sort of, more like something he did-." Naruto's words froze in his throat. "So." His eyes bore coolly into the other boy.  
  
"So." Sasuke replied. That confirmed some of his suspicions. Naruto WAS somehow tied to the demon. He sighed, frustrated. Tactfulness had never been a skill he felt the need to perfect, so beating around the bush was impossible, but coming right out and asking was turning out to be harder than he would have dreamed possible. He sighed again. What did it really matter if he was making Naruto uncomfortable? Why was this so hard?  
  
"What do you know?" Naruto asked, voice small, but was there a threat buried in the underlying tone that Sasuke detected?  
  
A slight smirk spread across the stoic features. "I know that your whole life you have been treated like someone with a disease. I know that the villagers are scared of you, and not just the non-ninja. I know that the adults are always jumping around a subject that has something to do with you, but they seem unable to talk about. I know that your dream had something to do with the fox AND I know that something about it made you suddenly shout 'I am NOT that damn demon!'"  
  
"So what?" Naruto jumped to his feet. "It's called a nightmare. I know you're familiar, because I've heard a few things from YOUR room, too. I'm just not nosey enough to stick MY big nose in YOUR freakin business. Or don't you remember two nights ago screaming about your brother. Whatever that weird crap is about." A light dawned in his blue eyes. "Come to think about it, you said something about your brother that time, too. When you thought you were going to die."  
  
"Don't EVER mention that man to me again."  
  
Dark eyes met blue, in both shone a warning and a determination. The air was so thick a knife could slice it, and into that environment walked an unsuspecting Sakura. "Ohayo Sasuke-kun! Naruto." She glanced from one boy to the other, suddenly wishing she had come latter. Or maybe she should have waited until the next day.  
  
Her face scrunched into a wince as neither boy glanced from the other to acknowledge her arrival. 'Geez.' She thought, 'If I wanted to be ignored today I could have stayed at home.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hours latter Sakura found herself walking the streets with a peevish Naruto. The boy's silent fight had ended with Naruto storming out of the house, Sakura, there under the pretense of checking up on her teammate had no choice but to follow, leaving an enraged Sasuke to brood alone. All in all it was the quietest and lest physical she had ever seen one of the boy's fights turn out to be. "So, Naruto, why don't we train?" Sakura sighed even as the words escaped her lips, but seeing the usually energetic blonde so distraught was hard.  
  
Naruto turned suddenly excited eyes on the girl. "Really? ALRIGHT!" He grabed Sakura's hand and started dragging her to the clearing their team typically trained at.  
  
"Oi!" Sakura pulled her hand from Naruto's grip, a laughing smile gracing her lips at the boy's excitement. This was more like the Naruto she knew. "Naruto, slow down! I need to get changed."  
  
Naruto glanced down at her and noticed for the first time she wasn't wearing her traditional outfit, instead a very pretty red dress with a black sash tied around her waist. "OH! Sakura-chan, gomen! You look so pretty today! I was so mad at that bastard, Sasuke, that I didn't even notice!"  
  
Sakura bit back the automatic response of defending Sasuke. She didn't know what happened, and since Naruto had been so depressed recently she really hated to argue with him. With surprise she noticed that she was actually being nice to Naruto without forcing herself. 'I guess the dweeb's growing on me.' "So, Naruto, tell me about Sasuke's house!"  
  
Naruto smiled as he told her stories about getting lost in the huge house, about how strange the house was, how thin the walls were. Sakura smiled as she listened, Inner Sakura in rapt attention mode, after all, one day she would be living there as Sasuke's wife, right? Before either realized it they were at Sakura's home. She let herself and Naruto in, calling out, "Mom, I'm home! I'm just going to change and then we'll be heading out!"  
  
"We?" Sakura's mother poked her head around the corner. A pleasant looking, plump woman, with a smile like a ray of sunshine, but besides the smile she looked nothing like her pink headed daughter. "Oh." He smile faltered slightly, before she put it firmly back in place. "Naruto-kun, right? Sakura tells me all sorts of stories about you and Sasuke."  
  
Naruto blushed a bit, and looked down at the ground, unaccustomed to being treated like anything but a burden at best by the majority of adults in the town. "It's nice to meet you, mam."  
  
The woman ushered Naruto into a room while Sakura ran up the stairs to her bedroom. "You just wait in here; I'll bring you some lemonade."  
  
Naruto stood in shocked silence for a moment, before realizing that the woman was already out of the room. He shrugged and looked around the room he was in. It had a couch and a few chairs, some tables with various pictures and such littering the top. Naruto smiled at a picture of Sakura, probably taken graduating day when she became a Gennin. There was also a picture of a much younger and thinner Mrs. Haruno in a white wedding dress next to a very dignified young Ninja man. "Must be Sakura's father." He mused as he glanced at the picture next to it.  
  
For a moment Naruto thought his heart had stopped. His hand shook as he grabbed the picture in question. On it was a woman that looked suspiciously like Sakura, only with redder hair and about 5 years older. If Sakura and her mother's smile was like a ray of sunshine than this woman's was an accumulation of every ray of light ever to reach the earth. "Pretty, isn't she?" Sakura's mother walked in the room, two glasses of lemonade on a tray. "She was my sister-in-law, Sakura's aunt. Sakura looks so much like her, doesn't she?"  
  
Naruto slowly looked from the picture to Sakura's mother. "She- I mean, where is she?"  
  
The woman smiled sadly, "She left the village before I married Sakura's father, she sacrificed herself to save the village by offering herself as a bride to the demon. She was never a very good Ninja but she became a hero anyway. It's a very noble story, if you have the time to sit and listen."  
  
"What?" Naruto sat in speechless horror. The woman was real. She WAS married to the fox demon. That dream. "So she married the fox demon?" He concluded, the words sounding lame even to his own ears.  
  
Sakura chose that moment to walk into the room, dressed now in her traditional red outfit and shorts. "Mom!" She said, with an exasperated sigh. "Naruto's not interested in out family history!" Inner Sakura raged in the background 'NOT THIS DAMN STORY!'  
  
Naruto looked from the girl to her mother before saying in a quiet voice, "I actually am, please?" He sent beseeching eyes to both women.  
  
Sakura threw herself into a nearby chair, earning a harsh look from her mother. She hated this story, it happened so long ago, and it was so stupid, but there was something in Naruto's voice and eyes that stopped her from insisting that they leave immediately. The boy looked so pathetic when he was begging.  
  
Mrs. Haruno was sending out that million dollar smile to Naruto again. "Illia, that was her name, she was never a very strong ninja, but she had a good heart. She liked being in the forest, not to train, but just to sit and let the atmosphere wash over her. She was a peace loving woman, perhaps that's why." She shook her head. "One day while she was out relaxing a man approached her. She didn't recognize the man, but assumed that he was one of the villagers (she wasn't the kind of person that paid much attention to humans.). I'm not quite sure about the details but it seems that the man was impressed with her and came to her house the next day to promptly ask for permission to marry her."  
  
The plump woman paused; her smile had long since faded. "My father in law was a strict man, and very impressed with the suitor. He wanted Illia to marry the man, but apparently she wasn't as impressed as her father was. It caused a lot of fighting between the two for a few days, but when the suitor returned for the response to his proposal Illia had won and he was sent away very angry. That should have been the end of it, really, but hell hath no furry like one scorned, especially if that someone is a demon in disguise. The man returned the next day. This time he wasted no time with Illia's parents, he went strait to the Hokage and demanded she be handed over."  
  
"Again the choice was given to Illia, but this time the choice presented to her was not a simple yes or no, but a yes to marriage or a yes to allowing him to destroy as much of the village as he could before he was defeated and killed." Sakura's mother glanced at Naruto. "You have heard about the power of that fox demon, right?"  
  
Naruto nodded, his attention fixed on every word that came from the woman's mouth.  
  
"Well, this demon, a wolf demon, was his half-brother. Their level of power was close. Close enough to make an attack a terrifying idea. But the Fourth was not about to send one of his people off as a human sacrifice. She choose to go with the demon rater than seeing the village destroyed. Then she asked her family and the Hokage to keep her story a secret, so her sacrifice was never known." The woman turned sad eyes to Naruto. "The strength to do what's right and not be thanked for it; that is what it truly means to be a hero."  
  
Naruto tore his gaze away from the woman. Why was she looking at him like that? Her look that held a mixture of pity and compassion was starting to bother him. He glanced at the clock. It was five. FIVE? How long had she been telling her story? Naruto rose to his feet. "Thank you." His voice came out in a soft whisper. Why did this story make his heart hurt so much?  
  
Mrs. Haruno smiled once again at Naruto before following his gaze. "Of course, dear. Oh my, look at the time. Sakura! What are you doing sitting around? If you have time to sit than you have time to peel potatoes for dinner."  
  
Sakura shoot a glare at her mother. "Gomen, Naruto. Maybe we can train tomorrow with Sasuke?" 'Oh, shit. I forgot Naruto was angry at Sasuke right now. Now I'll have to listen to him whine about it!' But to Sakura's surprise, Naruto simply nodded, a distant look on his face. Sakura walked out of the room in shock. "Have a good night, Naruto."  
  
"Yeah, you too, Sakura-chan." He replied in a distracted manner. "I do have one question before I leave, mam. Why do you know all this stuff if she asked no one to tell anybody and you weren't part of the family at the time?"  
  
"Ah, well that's simple. Illia told me everything after she was sent away." The woman replied quietly.  
  
"After she left?" The boy replied just as quietly.  
  
"Hai. We were best friends. The man she married was very kind and allowed her to speak to me even though we were apart."  
  
"I thought you said she married that demon."  
  
"No, I said that she left with that demon. What happened afterward is another story. A story that no one but myself and the Hokage know." She looked at the boy sadly. "But it is a story that you deserve to know, because of who you are." Her face suddenly had a decisive look on it. "Come see me next week and I will tell you the rest."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto walked back to the Uuchia mansion slowly. The girl was real. Her name really was Illia. She was taken away by demons. She was taken away by the BROTHER of the fox demon. A wolf demon. Suddenly the voice in Naruto's dream reminded him of a sound he had heard before. A wolf's growling; that was what the vice was like. A wolf that was intimidating its prey.  
  
He opened the door of his new home and suddenly remembered that he and Sasuke had been fighting when he left. 'Kuso! He might kick me out. I forgot about that.' But Sasuke was setting the table when he walked into the kitchen. There were two places set.  
  
"Oi, dobe, why don't you give me a hand?" Sasuke said in his normal impassive tone.  
  
"Oh, sure." He pulled out two cups and set the water to boil for tea. "Hey, Sasuke?  
  
"What?" Sasuke responded, full attention on the large bowl he was carrying to the table.  
  
"Who's the most important person to you right now?" One part of the dream had been bothering him ever since the voice called Sasuke his most important person. What did that mean? Could SASUKE really be his most important person?  
  
Sasuke dropped the dish he was carrying. "WHAT THE HELL?"  
  
Naruto ran over to the spilled contents of his dinner and looked at it sadly. There was no saving whatever the meal was intended to be. "You dropped my dinner!" He said in an accusatory manner.  
  
"DOBE!" Sasuke fumed, feeling a suddenly embarrassed flush reach his cheeks. WHY did that question bother him so much?  
  
"WHAT?" Naruto replied, feeling anger rise in his chest. "Don't you dare say this is MY fault, it's YOU that dropped MY meal."  
  
The dark headed boy realized that the idiot blonde was right for once. "Instead of pointing out blame how about helping me clean this mess up?"  
  
The over-active boy knelt next to Sasuke. "So, who IS the most important person to you right now?"  
  
Glaring daggers, he replied, "I hadn't really thought about it. Since I'm an avenger, I guess maybe." Maybe his brother? But that didn't seem right at all to him. The person whose disappearance would probably have the most effect on him would have to be. "Probably you." He thought about how that sounded and added quickly, "And Kakashi-sensei. The two of you aid me the most in my quest for strength."  
  
"Ah. That makes sense."  
  
The remainder of the cleaning was finished without a sound between the two boys. Sasuke was the first to break the silence. Face still glowing slightly red he asked, "What about you?"  
  
Naruto thought about it for a second. "I guess it's the same for me. The people that help me towards my goals." He blushed slightly as well and glanced at Sasuke. He sent out an uncomfortable smile to the boy. "Uh, about before, I should never have said what I did-"  
  
"Forget it."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *being carried by Kakashi* I guess I wore myself out.  
  
Naruto: Yeah, after six hours of video games in a row, not even breaking for food. I can't believe a weak person like you is still alive.  
  
Kakashi: *starts to set Psychic King down*  
  
Psychic King: Ah, no, not there. *cuddles into Kakashi's arms* I want to be set down over there. *points to some vague area far to the left*  
  
Iruka: *pulling out a chair and glaring at Psychic King* Here you go. Right here. A nice comfy chair for you to regain your strength in.  
  
Psychic King: *slightly disappointed* Thanks a lot Iruka. Can't even let a girl enjoy the moment. *Turns to readers* SO! Was it too fluffy at the end? I just thought I needed to throw SOMETHING to you for the whole long explanation of the fox demon's past love. Anyway, I had so much trouble falling asleep last night because plot ideas kept running through my head. *sigh* I have a feeling that this story is going to be a LOT longer than I originally planned. But that all depends on getting reviews! *laughs maniacally, holding arms above her head*  
  
Sakura: *annoyed that Sasuke ignored her at the arcade* suddenly she doesn't look so weak anymore, don't you think?  
  
Iruka: *Nodds* I get the suspicion that she was faking the whole thing.  
  
Psychic King: *pretending not to hear* Anyway, wasn't it fun Naruto?  
  
Naruto: Yeah! Sure was. *face darkening* Until Sasuke beat that nice guy up! He was so friendly, too.  
  
Psychic King: Yeah. Well, just so you know, when a guy keeps touching another guy like HE was touching YOU there's usually a reason beyond friendliness.  
  
Naruto: *blankly innocent* Like what?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* Never mind. *muttering* Sasuke sure has his work cut out for him.  
  
Sakura: *clearing throat* ANYWAY! I think it's time for you to do that thing you were planning on doing.  
  
Psychic King: What thing?  
  
Sakura: *getting angry* DON'T YOU REMEMBER ANYTING? Baka! You said you were going to tell the readers something important.  
  
Psychic King: *hitting head with hand* Soka! Um. I'm not having my period. I don't know why Sakura-chan jumps to these conclusions; I was just happy from a mixture of happy reviews and lack of sleep. *glaring at Sakura* And 'Baka' is NOT an appropriate way to address your Psychic King!  
  
Sakura: THAT was it? That was your big announcement?  
  
Iruka, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto: *quietly backing off screen, realizing that no one is paying attention take the chance to disappear*  
  
Psychic King: Um, I think so. That and. *turns towards readers* what else was there. Hum. Well, in case you hadn't noticed I am making this story a divergence. Starting from the point that I did I only had two choices, 1) make a divergence, 2) skip forward in time a lot. Skipping forward in time seemed unhappy to me, as I liked the plot that was boiling in my mind. So, we diverge and make the story different. Don't worry! I love Gaara-chan and Lee-kun! They will most assuredly be in the story. As well as Hinata, Neiji, Shikamaru, Ino, and anybody else that I really like that I can't think of right now. Oh yeah, also, no fear to anyone that hates love triangles as much as I do, the Fox's dead wife is DEAD, there will be no coming back to life for her, no uncomfortable 'But I love BOTH of you' scenes. Well, not with both Sasuke and Illia alive, anyway. And um. I like reviews! Please review! If you have anything you would like to see in the story don't hesitate to ask. I can't guarantee that I'll add it, but I am always open to suggestions! And, um. I added my Kakashi/Iruka background story of their relationship if anyone is curious. It might not be that special, but it's there, so if you want to read it it's called Embrace of the Scarecrow. That's all! *waves bye-bye to readers* don't forget to review (if you want to that is, I don't want to come off as pushy)! 


	4. Embrace of Playing

Psychic King: *waving to the readers* you actually read my stuff! Hurray!!!  
  
Naruto: *walking on screen* How can you tell?  
  
Psychic King: *points to the computer screen, full of not yet read reviews* See! Reviews!  
  
Naruto: *glancing at the computer* Um. Why are all these reviews written to someone named 'Psychiatrist King'?  
  
Psychic King: *runs to the computer* WHAT?  
  
Naruto: Yeah, see here? *points to one message* 'Psychiatrist King, I loved your story about the inner workings of the psyche. I agree with you that people spend too much time worrying about the Now and Before rather than the Now and Latter, which you explained in your candy scenario.' What the heck does that mean?  
  
Psychic King: *laying on the ground creaming* ARRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!  
  
Sakura: *innocently walking by holding a laptop* Oh my! What's wrong with her?  
  
Naruto: Donno. She just suddenly started screaming. Hey! OK, just the last few were written to Psychiatrist King, the rest were for her stories.  
  
Sakura: *quickly hiding laptop* I don't know how that could have happened! We better not tell her, it would be terrible to shock her again so soon after the last one.  
  
Naruto: *dubiously* If you say so, Sakura-chan.  
  
Sasuke: What's up with the reject?  
  
Naruto: *poking the still screaming Psychic King* She seems to be in shock because she got some reviews mailed to her that weren't intended for her story. *sends a worried look to Sasuke* I wouldn't call her that, if I were you. When she comes out of it, she is gonna be SO pissed.  
  
Sasuke: *backing away slightly* I don't think she could hear me over her screams.  
  
Kakashi: *suddenly appearing* Oh, I don't know about that, Sasuke. Women have very selective hearing when it comes to some things.  
  
Iruka: *steps over the screaming author* what's going on?  
  
Naruto: *a bit sadly* She's in shock.  
  
Iruka: *Coolly* Oh! I thought she was normally like that.  
  
Sakura: *in a frightened tone* Iruka's still holding a grudge that she made Kakashi carry her in the last chapter.  
  
Naruto: *still looking at the computer* Hey! She has chapter four written.  
  
Sakura: *runs over to computer and skims the chapter* Hum. We should delete it!  
  
Sasuke, Kakashi and Sasuke: *quickly* Wait!  
  
Kakashi: *in a teasing tone* I understand why Iruka and I are eager to see the next chapter. *muttering* Still hoping she'll get over her fear of lemons.  
  
Iruka: *glomped onto Kakashi's arm, nodding*  
  
Kakashi: *still in a teasing tone* could it be that you are eager to see some 'progression' of your own?  
  
Sasuke: *flustered* SHUT UP!  
  
Naruto: What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?  
  
Sakura: Oh no! I 'accidentally' hit the delete key!  
  
Sasuke: WHAT? *runs to the computer and grabs Sakura by the shoulders* WHY?  
  
Kakashi and Iruka: *smile at each other* Yeup. 'Progression.'  
  
Psychic King: *standing slowly* heh heh heh. It's OK. It's OK. Writing is its own reward! *sniff*  
  
Naruto: Oh! About that, only like three e-mails were sent to that Psychiatrist King person. The rest really were for your stories!  
  
Psychic King: *energy returning all at once* Really? Oh thank God!  
  
Naruto: But Sasuke's going to kill Sakura!  
  
Psychic King: Oh. That's nice, Naruto-kun.  
  
Naruto: Because she deleted chapter four of your story!  
  
Psychic King: *runs over to Sasuke, still holding Sakura by the shoulders and shaking* WHAT??? *pushes Sasuke to the side* WHY would you do something like that? *starts shaking Sakura*  
  
Sakura: *between gasps for breath* It- was- a- jo- ke.  
  
Psychic King: *releasing the girl and glancing at computer* Oh, yeup, there it is. *pats Sakura on the shoulder* You should have just said so. *to the readers* Anyway, just a quick note before I start the story, I own nothing in this story except the original characters. *sigh* Well, without further ado! The long awaited fourth chapter of the story!  
  
Sakura: Long-awaited? She barley let the readers take in LAST chapter.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude Chapter 4  
  
The sky was unusually dark. Naruto sat on the side of a large hill, watching the darkest clouds quick approach.  
  
"Looks like it's gonna be a bad one." Illia commented, stepping out of the cave.  
  
"Yes." The blonde grabbed Illia's slender hand and pulled her into his arms. "Let's watch the approach together."  
  
The red headed woman nestled into his chest, and Naruto couldn't help but notice how well they fit together. "I thought you were going to check on your brothers?"  
  
"No." He replied softly, brushing his lips against the top of her head. "I can't leave you alone with the cubs with this kind of storm coming. The lightning makes their hair stand on end."  
  
Illia gave her husband a gentle shove, playful tone in her voice. "I wish you would stop calling them cubs. They're our children, not some kind of animals."  
  
The blonde took the abuse in good nature, but shook his head in reply. "They are our children, but my blood runs deep through their veins. Whatever you would call me, so will they be. Demons, monsters, animals, gods, it's all the same. Not exactly human." The last was said with at least some amount of bitterness. "I wanted more for them. Living like beasts alone in a cave is a pathetic existence."  
  
Illia brought her hand to her husbands face. "We live and we are together, for now isn't that enough? We can worry about civilizing them when they are older." The last was said with a weary tone; the children, although the light of both Naruto and Illia's world, were wild, rambunctious and disorderly. She stood, wiped the dirt from her dress, and offered her hand to Naruto. "Come; let us see what our little angels have done to our home in our brief absence."  
  
As Naruto took his wife's hand the scent of something more than the coming storm reached his nose. "Trouble is brewing somewhere." He commented, but the fiery woman had already released his hand and was far ahead of him. As the memory of their meeting flashed through his mind, Naruto couldn't help but shake his head. She had been brought to the cave he lived in with his brothers by the youngest of the four, Kentaar. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, then and now. The last six years and the troubles of giving birth to three healthy boys and one healthy daughter had only served to make her shine even brighter to her entranced husband.  
  
He remembered her defiant eyes as Kentaar claimed her to be his future mate. The eldest of the brothers, Tagen (a half dragon), also noticed the hate in her eyes and took her to stay in his section of the multi-caverned cave with his human wife, Ulran and their three daughters. Tagen looked to Naruto, the second eldest, to help him keep the peace and protect the girl from Kentaar.  
  
The time Naruto spent watching over Illia had only served to grow deep seeded feelings of love for her. When he found she returned the feelings, Naruto told his problem his younger brother, Aki (a half hawk), whom he had always been close to. Aki encouraged the two to be open about their feelings to Tagen and ask to be allowed to marry. Tagen agreed to the marriage, but constant conflict with Kentaar made it impossible for the two to continue living with Naruto's brothers. They moved out and set up a cave of their own, closer to the peaceful ninja village that Illia was from.  
  
"Papa!" The voice of his youngest son from inside the cave brought Naruto out of his reverie. "Tenmar's picking on me!"  
  
With a smile on his face, he walked into his home.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto woke suddenly. "What the-?" His dreams were getting weirder and weirder. The other night he dreamt about standing outside the cave he lived in with Illia waiting for his sister in law to come and tell him that their first son was born. The dreams were strange, but so real. He WAS the fox demon while he dreamed, and the dreams ranged from a simple day of the demon's life to things as important as the birth of his children or the day he 'married' Illia (Naruto had never seen a wedding like that before, and wasn't sure if he would classify it as an actual wedding, but the meaning was there). It was becoming increasingly hard for him to think of the fox as a demon. The question that really started to bother him was WHAT had caused the fox, someone that seemed like such a peaceful, kind person, to go crazy and try to destroy the village that his beloved was from?  
  
The question of where these dreams were coming from was also on his mind. Was the demon reaching out to him? That was the most likely option in his mind. He was also open to the idea that the seal was weakening, although that thought bothered him a bit. The option that bothered him the most, however, was that perhaps these were not visions sent to him by the demon for some reason, but that they were his own memories. That he WAS the demon and the seal only served to lock his power. That meant he'd been lying to himself his whole life and brought with it a guilt that was almost too much to bear.  
  
Naruto tried not to think about that one, instead focusing on his training and missions which had started up again now that Kakashi deemed him 'fit to serve.' Relations between him and Sasuke had returned to normal, each enjoying the others company in private and ignoring each other or fighting constantly in public. It was a good arrangement and Naruto felt more comfortable in Sasuke's company than anyone else he could think of.  
  
It was his relationship with Sakura that was suffering the most since the dreams began, a fact that caused constant torment to the blonde boy. Every time she talked, every time she moved a constant comparison would jump to Naruto's mind between her and Illia. It didn't make the girl look favorable. His infatuation was quickly dissipating, leaving him to wonder if he would ever be able to look at a girl again without having Illia's perfection thrown into his mind. At least he was still able to look at the pink haired girl as a friend and important teammate.  
  
"Good morning, Sasuke!" He said in his normal I'm-cheerful mode. "What's for breakfast?"  
  
Sasuke was not a morning person, a fact that Naruto found out after quickly after moving in. "Hurm." Came the reply, as the dark haired boy set some sort of steaming plate on the table.  
  
Naruto quickly grabbed a spoonful of whatever it was and heaped it n his plate. Sasuke's cooking was never something Naruto recognized as anything specific, but it always tasted decent, more than Naruto could say for his own cooking. The remainder of breakfast was spent in silence, Naruto focusing on his food and Sasuke focusing on waking up.  
  
A knock on the door signaled that Sakura was there to walk to their meeting place with them. This had become tradition in the last week. Sasuke and Naruto would eat breakfast and then Sakura would show up. The three would walk to meet with Kakashi and then go on their missions. Afterward Naruto would walk Sakura to her house, chat with her mother for a moment and then return home to have dinner already cooked by Sasuke. Afterwards Naruto would do the dishes and then he and Sasuke would go outside and train either together or separately until they decided to go to bed. Privately it made Naruto really deviously happy to force Sasuke into the role of his personal chief.  
  
"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" He intoned around bites of his breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun! Naruto." Sakura still treated Naruto like he was something unpleasant to her, but it was becoming more of an act now. The fact was the boy's attitude towards her changed recently and it was making her. sad. In fact, ever since that day he was in the hospital, Naruto's attitude towards everything seemed to have changed. He was becoming more serious during training, he had almost completely stopped flirting with her, AND he never picked any serious fights with Sasuke anymore. He was still Naruto, still the number one loud mouth Ninja of the Konoha village, but he was now a more mature loud mouthed ninja. And for some reason the loss of his affections was pissing her off.  
  
Naruto finished off the remainder of his breakfast and followed Sakura and Sasuke out of the door. Sakura was trying to glomp on to Sasuke's arm, but the stoic boy was resisting her advances. "Hey! Look over there!" Naruto pointed across the street where Skikamaru, Choji and Ino were heading into the barbeque restaurant. "Oi! Shikamaru!" He started doing extravagant hand waving, while jumping to ensure that he got Shikamaru's attention. "Over here!"  
  
Sakura and Sasuke both sighed in disappointment when the other Gennin noticed Naruto and headed over with his team. "Geez, Naruto, you're so annoying." Shikamaru stated, scratching the inside of his ear.  
  
Ino promptly tried to affix herself to the side of Sasuke that was NOT being occupied by Sakura. "Hi Sasuke-kun! Sakura. Naruto."  
  
Choji pulled out a bag of potato chip and started munching. "What're you guys doing here?"  
  
Naruto and Shikamaru both were engrossed in staring at Sasuke's magic ability to steal the women and Sakura and Ino looked like they were about to tear each other head off, so Sasuke was left to answer. "Training."  
  
"Really?" Choji asked, grabbing another handful of potato chips. "We were just heading off to do that, too."  
  
"You do your training at the Barbeque restaurant?" Naruto asked doubtfully to Shikamaru.  
  
"No." Shikamaruto responded with a dismal wave. "It's the only place we can get Choji to meet us. It's such a pain."  
  
"I didn't think the restaurant even opened that early." Naruto added, still in a doubtful tone.  
  
"It does for Choji's family."  
  
"Well, Ino-pig, I'd LOVE to stay and play with you guys, but WE have some REAL training to do." Sakura's voice dripped with insincerity. "We can't play all day at the Barbeque rest-." her words ended as she glanced at Naruto. He was looking at her like that again. The look held disappointment, distaste, and sorrow all at the same time. Throughout the week when ever Sakura did something unseemly or cruel his eyes would get that look.  
  
"Hai, she's right." Naruto's VOICE even held some of the emotion. "We gotta meet with Kakashi-sensei! Of course, he won't be there, but." The group said their goodbyes and Sasuke sighed in relief as Ino finally let go of his arm, causing Sakura to let go as well.  
  
The three members of team seven reached the bridge and began the long wait for Kakashi. Their wait was short in comparison to usual, to each of their silent relief. "Sorry I was late, I ran into an old friend and-"  
  
"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled simultaneously.  
  
Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, I have decided to cancel training for today! I leave you all to your own devices." With those words he was gone, leaving the Genin to stare blankly at each other.  
  
Sakura immediately turned to Sasuke, "Why don't we train together, then? We could work on our team work."  
  
"No." Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and turned away from the other two.  
  
Sakura's face fell and Naruto felt a stab of pity for the girl. "Sasuke, you anti-social bastard!" He called to Sasuke's retreating form. "Ne, Sakura-chan, I'll train with you!"  
  
"Pass!" She said shortly.  
  
Naruto was about to comment on her being too cold, but his the corner of his eyes caught a box shaped rock moving towards him. "Huh? Is that." He moved forward quickly, and the rock followed. Naruto spun and stuck his finger at the device. "I know that's you, Konohamaru! Rocks aren't shaped like rectangles and don't follow people around!"  
  
"I should have expected as much from you, Leader!" A young voice called, as the box exploded revealing three coughing children. Naruto watched with a bored face as the children once again went through their introductions (did they really think he had forgotten their names, or was this an attempt at dramatics?).  
  
"Hai, hai, Konohamaru, what do you want? I was about to do some training!" Naruto grinned at Sakura and gave her the thumbs up sign.  
  
The girl rolled her eyes and the children finally took notice of her. Konohamaru elbowed Naruto in the stomach. "Oh, I see. So she's you're. Eh? Eh?"  
  
Naruto shook his head. "Naw, that's just Sakura-chan. She's too scary for me." He answered playfully.  
  
Sakura felt as if the world had ended. 'Just Sakura-chan?' Since when had she been JUST Sakura-chan to Naruto?? The children's attention passed on quickly when they realized she was no one special and Inner Sakura was raging and breathing fire and throwing curses upon the unsuspecting Naruto. For calling her scary. yes, that was what was bothering her.  
  
"'Sakura-chan?'" Naruto repeated innocently, already starting to back away.  
  
"DIE!" Sakura screamed, throwing all her anger and confusion into her fists and throwing her fists towards Naruto.  
  
"Uh." Naruto quickly backed away, but Sakura continued her attack. Giving up, Naruto turned and fled from the pink headed demon. "Gah! Sakura-chan! Kowai!"  
  
"Leader, we'll save you!" Konohamaru called after the retreating blonde. "You monster! What kind of girl are you, to scare away our leader like that?" The three children were quickly pursuing Sakura, who in turn was chasing Naruto. They ran right past a pair of Sand-nin and a group of Ninja from the new Sound village in ignorant bliss, totally missing the fact that a worried Sasuke was trailing after them.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
In another section of Konoha the Hokage was announcing the upcoming Chuunin exam to the surprised Jounin Teachers. "Is it that time already?" Kakashi asked, feigning interest.  
  
"Indeed, it seems like it's come early this year." Gai added, glaring at his rival.  
  
"Even if the time has past quickly, it is here all the same." The Hokage insisted. "As are Ninja from our neighboring countries to participate. So I would like to know which of you plan on entering your students into the exam for the year. We'll start with the rookies."  
  
Iruka sighed. He and Kakashi had talked about this. Well, argued was a more appropriate word. Kakashi insisted they were ready, Iruka begged that it was too early for them, especially considering the problems that Naruto was having. Kakashi returned that BECAUSE of the problems this would be a good exercise for the troubled boy. Iruka argued back that it would only be helpful if Naruto actually would be able to BEAT the other participants, and Iruka wasn't sure that was possible. Kakashi ended the argument by pulling his ultimate trump card. HE was now their teacher. HE had confidence in their abilities and if Iruka couldn't see how much Naruto had grown than perhaps he needed to talk another look at the boy. It was their first real fight as a couple and, although it ended with no name calling or blood shed (or even worse, talk of breaking up), it still had done its damage. The 'honeymoon' phase was over.  
  
Kakashi stepped forward after giving Iruka's arm a reassuring squeeze. "I would like to nominate from my Team 7, Uzumaki Naruto, Uuchia Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."  
  
Iruka turned his gaze out the window as the other Rookie Team leaders also nominated their students. He was a bit surprised that all nine of the rookies were nominated, but had trouble getting excited about it. He was not at all surprised when Gai nominated all of his students, though. Lee and Tenten certainly had grown in the last year. Neiji probably could have taken the test right away. He might not have passed, but he most definitely had the power to hold his own. As older students were mentioned he allowed his mind to wander. He wasn't familiar with students much older than the group with Lee as he only had been teaching a couple years.  
  
"Very well," The Hokage said. "These names will go on my list unless there are any complaints?"  
  
A few heads turned expectantly towards Iruka, but he shook his head. "If the Jonin have confidence in their students than I will trust their decisions." He could see Kakashi smile at him from under his mask.  
  
"Fine, meeting adjourned. I leave each of you to tell your students the good news." And with that the Hokage was gone.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Iruka returned to his class room with doubts in his head, trying desperately to keep Kakashi assurances in his mind. The Chuunin exam was dangerous and, even in his own experience, many people died. How would Naruto handle that? He began systematically cleaning the room and setting things up for tomorrows lessons. Cleaning had the effect of calming whatever inner demons he struggled with and he could feel his breath even out.  
  
"You should pay attention to your surroundings more." An unfamiliar voice said from behind him. "I would have had many chances to end your existence if I had wanted to."  
  
Iruka spun around to stare in surprise at the speaker. He didn't recognize the man as someone from the village, but there was definitely something familiar about the way his blue eyes pierced into Iruka's soul. "I'm sorry; I don't think we have met. My name is Iruka." He extended his hand to the man.  
  
The man looked at the offered hand for a moment as if unsure what to do with it before finally stretching out his own in a hand shake. "Tenmar. I am right in assuming that you are the man that trained the boy, Uzumaki Naruto?"  
  
Iuka felt his shoulders stiffen, a bit of fear creeping into his heart. "What would you want to know something like that for?"  
  
The man's returned smile was like seeing joy itself, and there was no mocking in his voice when he replied, "I was unaware that this question would cause any trouble."  
  
The teacher felt a slight blush cross his face, suddenly feeling rather silly for making a big deal of the question. His eyes traveled down the man's body. He was rather handsome, with long, wild blonde hair tied in a quick pony tail, a thin, but muscular build and a face that held both innocence and wisdom. He was obviously younger than Iruka, but probably only by four or five years. Iruka's blush deepened as he realized he was caught staring and that the man was still waiting for an answer. "Yes, I was Naruto's teacher."  
  
The man smiled that million dollar smile again. "Great! I have a few questions for you, then." The man's stomach gave a sudden growl. "Perhaps we could discuss it over something to eat?"  
  
Nodding silently, Iruka followed the man out of the school.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakashi: *angrily to Iruka* how COULD you just go off with some random guy that you are OBVIUOSLY attracted to???  
  
Iruka: *backing away from the angry man* I-I didn't do anything! It was Psychic King-sama that wrote that! I had nothing to do with it, honest!  
  
Kakashi: *rounding on Psychic King* Rewrite it!  
  
Psychic King: Aww. Is Kakashi-chan intimidated by the big pretty blonde boy that's gonna steal Iruka away?  
  
Kakashi: You WOULDN'T!  
  
Psychic King: *sadly* No, I probably wouldn't, but I LIKE Tenmar. And he likes Iruka, don't you Tenmar?  
  
Tenmar: *suddenly appearing in Psychic King Space* What? Where am I?  
  
Psychic King: Ah, there you are! How does it feel to spontaneously come into existence?  
  
Tenmar: *looking around suspiciously* Fine. I guess. I was just looking for Naruto-sama.  
  
Kakashi and Iruka: *in surprise* Naruto-SAMA?  
  
Psychic King: *clearing throat* I think that's enough of dropping hints on my future plot plans! *glances around* It's a good thing Naruto wasn't here. He has a terrible time keeping his mouth shut.  
  
Iruka: You mean he knows something about this guy? *gestures to Tenmar*  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* Oh no! NO, no, no, no, no! That trick won't work on me! I'm not telling you nothing! *turns to Tenmar* Don't you go telling them anything, either. Anyway, I called you here for a reason. What do you think of Iruka-sensei?  
  
Tenmar: *blushing* that's not- I mean, he obviously has a partner! I don't think that I should. I mean, what I think doesn't really matter in this situation, right? *looks up hopefully*  
  
Kakashi: *cracking knuckles* If you come within ten feet of my Iruka I'll kill you.  
  
Iruka: *also looking menacing* Why would you say 'sama' at the end of Naruto-kun's name? Are you some kind of pervert??  
  
Psychic King: *cackling evilly* Hee hee hee. It's SO nice to have you here, Tenmar-kun! Now that you've stumbled into my home you'll never find your way out! Hahahaha!!!!!  
  
Tenmar: *gulping* Um. help?  
  
Psychic King: *walking away from the three men* I'll just leave them to bond. *turns to the audience* Sorry, but I introduced another self created character. But Tenmar is harmless, really! Well. not completely, but he's a nice person! Unless he's been crossed or is really pissed off. Anyway! Back to my typical groveling. Please review! I love reviewers and I read my review to encourage myself to write more, so if you like what you read let me know! If you hate it let me know too! If you want something to happen let me know even more! Some basic notes to clear thing up.  
  
YES, Naruto, Tagen, Kentaar and Aki are all half brothers and each is a different animal demon person thingy... There will be more information on this latter in the story, I promise. I will be having a large amount of self created characters. Mostly bishonen *scratches the back of head* Heh. I kind of LIKE bishonen. (Ok, more than kind of.) I am going out of town for the weekend, so the next update may not be for four or five days (but I might be able to get one more in before I go). =) The next chapter starts the Chuunin exam Psychic King style. Anything that is going to be a blantant repeat of what happens in the series (which I don't think will happen at all, to be honest, I have lots of ideas.) will be skimmed over IF and when it pops up. I don't like rehashing something that everyone is probably familiar with.  
  
Psychic King: *waves enthusiastically at the readers* OK, you all come back now! 


	5. Embrace of Parties

Psychic King: *randomly talking out loud* God, I love my readers! They're so clever and great!  
  
Naruto: Clever about what?  
  
Psychic King: Picking up the hints that I left them! Obviously! *sigh*  
  
Sakura: Yeah, about that. I was reading this chapter 4 and. *in a dangerous tone* Why am I upset about loosing Naruto's affections? Hum? Care to enlighten me, Psychic King-sama? *twitching slightly*  
  
Psychic King: Sakura, are you OK? Your eyebrow is. pulsating.  
  
Naruto: *looking worried* Yeah, she gets like that whenever we talk about you, now.  
  
Sakura: *muttering* turn Sasuke gay. making me jealous over Naruto. just look what she's done to poor Kakashi-sensei.  
  
Psychic King and Naruto: *turn to watch Kakashi creep across screen, trailing after Tenmar, who is searching for Naruto* *both shrug*  
  
Sakura: *Speaking out loud now* SO? Are you gonna explain why I'm jealous?  
  
Psychic King: *holding hands up in a placating gesture* Ma, ma. It's not really jealousy, per say, it's more. loss. I've experienced it myself at times when a male friend would flirt with me and then, for whatever reason, (say he gets a girlfriend) suddenly stops doing it. It's not that I wanted that friend, per say, but more that I wanted his attention and his affections. It's very selfish, but also a very natural reaction. *looks at Sakura's still angry face* Uh. *turns and starts running*  
  
Sakura: *Angry* HEY! You get back here! *takes off after Psychic King*  
  
Tenamr: *finally looking up* Naruto-sama! There you are! *runs to Naruto* I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you.  
  
Naruto: *backing away* Yeah, sure, guy. Whatever. *looks at Kakashi* who the hell's this guy?  
  
Kakashi: *confused* you mean you DON'T know? Geez, we were hoping that you could tell US.  
  
Naruto: *ignoring Tanmar* let's go ask the old hag!  
  
Kakashi: *nods and starts to walk off with Naruto*  
  
Tenmar: *To the audience* I guess now would be a good time to say that Psychic King-sama does not own Naruto-sama or any of his affiliates. *chasing after Naruto and Kakashi* Hey, don't just leave me alone here! This place is creepy!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"So." The blonde stranger, Tenmar, settled into a seat at the ramen stand. "Tell me about this Naruto kid."  
  
Iruka felt once again felt himself bristle. Who was this guy to call Naruto some random kid? "He's a lot more than 'this Naruto kid.'" Iruka replied, a small smile starting to form on his lips as he thought about Naruto. "He's. Loud, obnoxious, clumsy, a prankster to the very end, terrible at paying attention in class, and his big mouth has gotten him into more than one bad situation." Tenmar's face fell slightly, but Iruka didn't seem to notice and pushed on. "But he's got a heart of gold. He seems to know just what to say to lighten the mood when things get heavy, his clumsy 'accidents' occasionally seem to be more of an act and have served to help him get his way, he has a determination like none I've ever seen, an inner strength that. amazes me to this day, and his faith and love for this village even though they treat him like a monster. Everything it takes to be the best Hokage ever." The teacher trailed off, a fond smile shining on his face.  
  
Throughout the last part of the conversation Tenmar's smile had returned. "How interesting." He leaned back into his chair. "It sounds like he's more than just a student to you."  
  
"You obviously don't know him." Iruka replied. "Naruto is never 'just' an ANYTHING. You can't know him, I mean really know him, and not think of him as something completely special."  
  
"What is he to you? 'Something completely special' means what in your terms?" The blonde signaled for another bowl of ramen.  
  
"I guess I've taken the role of big brother, if I had to put a name on it." Iruka's chopsticks wavered over his half-eaten first bowl. "What is he to you? You've come here, asking all sorts of questions. Any other student and this would be a common place thing. I can't count how many people I've had come by to ask about Sasuke since he graduated, but this is NARUTO we're talking about. I've never had anyone come ask about him. At best everyone pretends he doesn't exist, so I ask, what are your reasons for these inquiries?"  
  
"Reasons, huh?" Tenmar put the second empty ramen bowl on top of the first and signaled for yet another. "Perhaps it's a ploy to get closer to his teacher?" He gazed sideways at Iruka to see the brunette's face break into a huge blush before continuing on in a more serious tone. "I don't mean him any harm, if that's what you're worried about. There's just. something I have to know."  
  
Iruka nodded. For some reason he did not doubt for even one moment the stranger's sincerity. Placing a good natured hand on Tenmar's shoulder, he gave the man an encouraging smile. "I hope you find what you're looking for."  
  
A tanned hand snaked out and grasped Iruka's before he could completely withdraw it. "I wasn't kidding about wanting to get closer to you. You are a very interesting man, Iruka-sensei." He watched again as a bright flush filled Iruka's face.  
  
"I- Thank you, but I." Taking a deep breath, Iruka calmed his pounding heart and pulled his hand out from Tenmar's grip. "I'm involved with someone, so. I'm sorry."  
  
"What a pity." Tenmar finished off his third bowl of ramen and stood. "Well, I don't give up easily. I'll be seeing you." He paid the attendant for both their meals and turned to leave. There was a dark shadow blocking his exit. "Ah, excuse me."  
  
"Excuse you?" Kakashi's voice responded. "I don't think so." He crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. "Naruto is my student now. Any further question about him can be brought to me."  
  
Iruka's eyes widened. "How long have you been standing there?"  
  
The silver haired Jounin put a gentle hand on his lover's arm, sending him a small smile through his facial mask. "I went to check on you after the meeting, I knew you disagreed with my decision to send the kids to the exam. When you weren't at the school I figured that you might be here. My next bet was to check your apartment." He allowed his gaze to flicker back to Tenmar, who was still waiting to be allowed passage. "I don't recognize you, kid. My name's-"  
  
"Hatake Kakashi, Jounin level Ninja, Age 26, current instructor of Uuchia Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. Am I missing anything?"  
  
"Adamant fan of Come Come Paradise and boyfriend of Umino Iruka." Kakashi intoned, a bored sound in his voice. Iruka recognized that tone; it was the one Kakashi used when he was annoyed.  
  
"Ah, I'll make sure to add that to my information." The younger man stretched out his hand. "Tenmar."  
  
Kakashi accepted the outstretched hand in a brief shake and moved to the side, allowing the blonde access to the exit. "Be sure that you do!" He called in a cheerful tone as Tenmar took his leave. He then turned his visible eye to his lover, a questioning look across his mostly hidden face.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, how'd it go?" A tall boy with short, spiky red hair and bright blue eyes ran up to Tenmar as soon as he stepped into a plain hotel room.  
  
The blonde's head hung, a river of tears flowing from his eyes. "He had a boyfriend." He sniffed sadly.  
  
"Not that. He meant about the Uzumaki kid? What do you think? Is he the one?" A third boy spoke lazily from his spot on one of the two hotel beds. This one had short white hair and piercing green eyes.  
  
Tenmar's head rose, all playfulness dropped. "It's a good bet. That teacher, Iruka-sensei was very impressed with him."  
  
A tentative knock made all three men turn cautious eyes to the door. "Tenmar-niisan? Uzu-nii? Ganten-niichan?" A soft frightened voice called from the other side of the door. "Ano. It's Mina. It's scary out here. Please let me in." The knocking sound repeated.  
  
"Yeah?" The red head called standing in front of the door, "If you're Mina-chan than what's the secret password?"  
  
"Ano." The voice sounded even closer to tears. The sound of movement further down the hall and a boisterous laugh from another hotel patron further away and the men heard a gentle eep. "Ano. I don't know."  
  
Tenmar pushed his younger brother to the side and opened the door for his terrified baby sister. "There, there. I won't let mean old Uzu tease you any longer, so stop your crying." He shot a vicious glare to the red head, who was lying on the floor clutching his sides and laughing. Wiping the tears from her eyes the girl nodded and Tenmar couldn't help but think again how much she looked like their mother. Her hair was obviously a little darker (mother's had been more the shade of Uzu's hair, almost pink, but not quite) but was approximately the same length and she was definitely going to be taller whenever she finished growing, but her eyes were exactly the same bright green color. Ganten's eyes were also that color.  
  
Of course, as much as Mina looked like their mother, Tenmar himself resembled their father. Bright blue eyes and almost the same shade of blonde for the hair. As for Ganten and Uzu, they were mixes of the two, both with a few physical characteristics of each. The only feature on the four of them that Tenmar could really feel was completely unique was Ganten's bright white hair.  
  
As for their personalities. he wasn't sure WHERE they came from. Tenmar had tried to groom himself to be exactly like he remembered his father to be, kind and strong, perhaps slightly on the playful side, but the kind of person that made others simply feel good about themselves. It was hard to have lost both mother and father while they were so young, especially with Uncle Kentaar searching for them, but he had raised his siblings to the best of his abilities. Aunt Ulran helped when she could, but for the most part they were on their own.  
  
Surprisingly it was Ganten (the second youngest) that was the most helpful, doing a majority of the cooking and making sure that things like having a stock of food for the winter were done. He had a level head and a cool intellect even in the face of great danger. Ganten was also the one that was best at finding places to live when it was necessary to move (an event that happened quite frequently). He relied on Ganten to be his second in command and when ever he was gone for long periods he would leave the white headed boy in charge.  
  
Uzu (second oldest) was a tad on the wild side. He was the only one of the four that witnessed their mother's death and ever since his personality was a little off. He was the best hunter of the group, but his method was something that disturbed Tenmar; preferring to hunt with his bare hands and occasionally eating segments of his prey raw and even more disturbing, alive. It was also common for Uzu to go into his fox form and disappear for days at a time. If it weren't for his pure heart and genuine love for his siblings Tenmar would have doubted his loyalties.  
  
No, it was Mina that worried Tenmar most of all. It wasn't that he doubted her power, like all of them she was quite an accomplished fighter with more power than most humans could even dream of. Nor was it her loyalty, it was her timid nature. She was so frightened of everything here in the town, she wasn't able to enjoy the company of people besides her brothers and she was terrified of anyone else to boot. The nearby fox tribes she got along with well enough, but now that they were in town she acted like a cornered rabbit. He blamed himself that she turned out this way; she had never known either father or mother, perhaps if they had been around to raise her.  
  
With a shake of his head Tenmar forced his self depreciating thoughts to the side. "Ok, so here is the plan, we need to get Naruto alone, without him seeing us before hand. It's possible that he may recognize us somehow and we don't need him blowing our cover before we have a chance to explain ourselves to him. Remember, if anyone approaches you, you three are Genin, here to participate in the upcoming Chuunin exam. I am your teacher. Are we all OK on this?" He waited for each of his siblings to nod before continuing. "Alright. We make our move tonight."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ha ha, that was fun." An exhausted Naruto laughed as he leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath. He, Sakura, Konohamaru and his gang had run through the entire town for the last few hours.  
  
Sakura shook her head, but before she was able to speak she had to pause to take in a few deep breaths. She had sunk to the ground and was having trouble standing. That much running was hard on her poor legs and she was secretly amazed that Naruto could still stand. "We lost those kids a couple hours ago, I think."  
  
Naruto sent her his trademark energetic smile and put his hands behind his head. "Well, there's nothing like a lot of running for endurance training." He sniffed as a strange smell reached his nose and quickly put his arms down. "I need a bath!"  
  
"What a gentleman you are, Naruto!" An obnoxious voice said from behind the two.  
  
"Kiba! I'd recognize that doggy stench from anywhere!" Naruto spun quickly, all thoughts of feeling drained fleeing his mind as he pointed at the dog trainer. "You aren't one to speak; you stink even worse that I do." His smile grew when he noticed that it wasn't just Kiba, but Hinata, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji and Ino as well that stood behind him. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?"  
  
Shikamaru sighed in a peevish manner. "Do you know how much trouble you've been causing, running around like an idiot? We were sent to stop you from making a mess of the town. You're such a pain, Naruto."  
  
Hinata was hiding slightly behind Kiba, holding both fingers in front of her mouth, a slight blush on her checks. Naruto sent a small smile to her and she blushed even brighter as she moved to hide completely behind Kiba. Three more ninja jumped down next to the group. Naruto wasn't sure he recognized them, but they were probably older Genin. "Good, you found them." A strange looking boy with long hair and white eyes said, staring mostly at Hinata.  
  
Sakura blushed as she realized that they must have been causing quite a bit of trouble if nine Genin were sent out to look for them. "Gomen, I didn't realize that we were causing that much trouble." She rose shakily and bowed to their pursuers.  
  
"Nah," Kiba said, with a wave, "You really weren't. I think they were just all up in arms because there are so many visiting Ninja with the Chuunin exam coming up and all."  
  
"What?" Naruto yelled loudly. "Oh man! I didn't know! When did that happen? I can't wait!" He started dancing around causing the others, even those that didn't know him, to roll their eyes.  
  
"Not everyone can participate in the Chuunin exams, you idiot!" Shikakaru spoke. "You have to get referred by your sensei."  
  
But Naruto was in his own world, and was not paying attention. "Chuunin! Chuunin! Hee hee hee!"  
  
In a fit of sudden anger Sakura regained much of her strength in order to slam her fist onto the top pf Naruto's head. "Listen to what other people say, idiot!"  
  
Naruto pried his face from the concrete as an idea jumped into his mind. "We should have a party to celebrate the exams! Everyone come to Sasuke's and we'll have a huge bonfire!"  
  
There was a sudden rustle of leaves and suddenly Sasuke was springing from some nearby trees. "Don't offer my house, dobe!"  
  
"Don't call me dobe, bastard!" Naruto responded. "Anyway, your house is perfect for a party! You have a huge back yard!"  
  
Kiba had picked up Naruto's mood by this time. "Yeah! A big party! The nine rookie Genin of Konoha!" He glanced at the three non-rookie Genin and gave them a dismissal wave. "I guess you guys can come, too."  
  
"Don't invite people to someone else's house!" Sasuke was yelling, even as Tenten threw her arms around her teammates and exclaimed, "Yeah! A party sounds fun, doesn't it Lee, Neiji?" The one identified as Lee was nodding his head adamantly, his eyes fixed on Sakura.  
  
And so, against Sasuke's indignant demands that it not be so, the party began and it lasted well into the night until team by team the other Genins headed home. Last to leave was Shikamaru's team with Sakura. When everyone was finally gone Naruto turned a questioning smile to Sasuke. "Should we start cleaning now, or let it sit until morning?" He asked happily.  
  
"Humph." Sasuke replied, crossing his arms across his chest. "WE will do nothing; YOU will clean this mess before you even think about going to bed." With that said the stoic boy turned and walked sleepily into his house.  
  
"I wasn't the only person that enjoyed that party, you know!" Naruto shouted to the closing door.  
  
"Don't yell, dobe!" Came the sharp reply, "My neighbors are trying to sleep, and we've kept them up long enough, don't you think?" This was a blatant lie as Sasuke's closest neighbor was far out of hearing range.  
  
"Don't call me dobe, Bastard!" Came the automatic response as Naruto threw another log on the bonfire. He didn't really need the light to see the yard, but it was a happy memento of the party and, as it was Naruto's first, he wanted to keep it alive as long as he could.  
  
As he systematically scanned the yard for trash or food he could not help but feel like someone was watching him. Putting the thoughts out of his head, he decided the quickest way to clean Sasuke's yard would be to make a game out of it. "Alright!" He cried.  
  
Sasuke watched the boy running from one part of the yard to another from his window. It looked like he had separated the yard into segments and was making a game out of seeing which section he could clean fastest. "That idiot." He muttered; small smile touching his lips as he thought about how big the boy's grin got at the party, when he was surrounded by friends. Every so often, when he thought Sasuke was being too anti social, Naruto would look at him with an adorable smirk and that trickster glint in his eyes and find some way to drag him into the conversation. He closed his eyes and lay back in his bed thinking about how much happier he was now that Naruto was living with him. Eventually the time would come when they would have to separate, but for now. Sasuke allowed his mind to start drifting towards slumber. If he had only kept his eyes open a little longer he would have seen a shadow pass quickly and silently by his window.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *dabbing at forehead and speaking to no one in particular* Whew. I just spent the whole day writing. I wasn't going to, but man, I was so inspired! Anyway, I wanted to give my reviewers a little something for sending me so many reviews before I went out of town for the weekend! I did just hit thirty reviews, after all.  
  
Iruka: *pointing accusatory finger at Psychic King* you keep making Naruto and I speak to ourselves out loud, but really it's you that does that! You're just pushing your bad habits off on other people!  
  
Tenmar: *spotting Iruka* Hey there! *smiles his million watt smile* I was just thinking about you!  
  
Iruka: *blushing* what? I mean. Hey! What happened to me having someone and you respecting that?  
  
Tenmar: *blushing and placing one hand behind his head* Well. That was before I got to know you. You really are very special. *moving closer to Iruka* I'd like to know you a whole lot better.  
  
Kakashi: *suddenly appearing, fires of hell behind him* what did I tell you about keeping your distance, kid?  
  
Tenmar: *getting into a fighting stance* I'm ready anytime, geezer.  
  
Uzu: *suddenly appearing next to Tenmar, shaking fists at Kakashi* HEY! You can't threaten my big brother like that, ya freak!  
  
Psychic King: *.* Hum. This may take a while.  
  
Sakura: Well, would this be a good time for the second ever Psychic-King- tells-the-readers-useless-information-in-hopes-that-it-stimulates-them-to- review?  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* and I have a special treat for you this time. I'm going to list the stats of the four children! Starting with Tenmar:  
  
Name: Tenmar  
  
Age: 20  
  
Sex: Male  
  
Preference: Men (Sakura: OF COURSE, you can't introduce a hot guy and make him strait for once, can you?)  
  
Family: Mother Illia, deceased; Younger brother Uzu, living; Younger brother Ganten, living; Younger sister Mina, living; Father Fox demon, uncertain.  
  
Height: 6 foot 4 (Sorry! This is the only measurements that I understand! I'm a stupid American!)  
  
Weight: 175 (That's in pounds, but hey he's pretty thin considering his height and muscles!)  
  
Blood type: . To be decided.  
  
Brief notes: Tenmar has a strong sense of responsibility. His whole world is his brothers and sister and he would do anything to protect them. His turn-ons include ramen and Iruka (tee hee).  
  
Up next (in order of age) we have Uzu!  
  
Name: Uzu  
  
Age: 17  
  
Sex: male  
  
Preference: None. or both. He's open to anything, as long as whoever it is turns out to be fun.  
  
Family: (see Tenmars family, but take out Uzu and replace with Older Brother, Tenmar, living)  
  
Height: 5 foot 8 (not to short himself, eh?)  
  
Weight: 140  
  
Blood type: I don't know. Sorry!  
  
Brief Notes: Seeing his mother killed by his uncle seems to have hurt poor Uzu's psyche. Despite his wild tendencies he is a good person and very loyal to Tenmar and the others. His heart is in the right place, although is mind often is not (suffering from the same foot in mouth syndrome Naruto seems to exhibit). He loves to play tricks. His turn-ons include honesty and people with good senses of humor.  
  
Continuing on, Ganten!  
  
Name: Ganten  
  
Age: 15  
  
Sex: Male  
  
Preference: I haven't decided. It may never come up.  
  
Family: I'm beginning to wish I hadn't included this. But I think you guys can figure it out, right?  
  
Height: 5 foot 7 (but he's still a growing boy)  
  
Weight: 120 (WAY too skinny)  
  
Blood type: Heh. You really think I know this one when I didn't know the others?  
  
Brief notes: Ganten is very different from the rest of his family in that he is a very structured person. He thrives off mental challenges and is hoping that while in town he can meet someone that will provide just that. He's focused so much on the mental that he has trouble with emotional things, so he can come off as sarcastic and uncaring, but he really loves his family (noticing a trend? Well, they've lived off only each other's support for pretty much their whole lives, what do you expect?). One of the reason's he's so skinny is that he rations less food out to himself. Turn-ons include mental challenges and quiet people. (I kind of visualize him as an older, taller Killua from Hunter X Hunter for those of you that are interested).  
  
And last but certainly not least, Mina!  
  
Name: Mina  
  
Age: 14  
  
Sex: female  
  
Preference: She's too scared of people to be turned on by them!  
  
Height: 4 foot 10 (little in comparison, ain't she? But like Tenmar said, she's been growing recently)  
  
Weight: A lady never tells her weight!  
  
Blood type: O (just kidding, I still don't know, gomen!)  
  
Brief note: Being the youngest and the only girl Mina was kind of spoiled and over protected by her brothers. As a result she is a very timid little girl, although she quite possibly is the most powerful of the siblings. She likes to wear long, frilly, black dresses (bright red hair is so hard to match colors with!). Her turn-ons include being left alone and people that can make her laugh. An interesting fast is that she is the ONLY person ever to call Ganten 'chan.'  
  
Anyway, that's the group! I hope all you readers enjoy this chapter! *waves bye bye*  
  
Sakura: *sighing* It's too late to tell them that now! They've already read the chapter!  
  
Psychic King: *ignoring Sakura* Please review! Have a great weekend! I'm off to drive for the next six hours! Bye! Wish me a safe journey if you want more chapters! *continues waving until she's faded out* 


	6. Embrace of Confusion

Psychic King: *gnawing on something* so hungry.  
  
Naruto: *watching in fascination*  
  
Sakura: *Um. Why is Psychic King-sama chewing on a rock?  
  
Naruto: She just returned from vacation and there's no food in her house.  
  
Sakura: So she's eating a rock?  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* No, it's not a rock. Its five day old pizza. *pulls out a bowl of popcorn*  
  
Uzu: *walking by* Hey, whatcha doing? *Spots Psychic King and stops to watch* Huh. You think she can digest that thing?  
  
Naruto: *Shrugs and offers Uzu some popcorn* Donno. It was food a few days ago.  
  
Sakura: *Sigh* This is cruel. *keeps watching*  
  
Psychic King: *Drops the pizza and moves over to the refrigerator* There's gotta be something. I don't have the money to buy food until I get paid and mommy and daddy are out of town so I can't hit them up for dinner tonight.  
  
Naruto: I just hope she doesn't realize that we're eating the last of the popcorn.  
  
Uzu: *grabbing another handful of popcorn* Yeah, that'd be bad.  
  
Sakura: Um. Maybe we should offer her something. I mean if she dies then. *imagining a life without Psychic King* never mind. *grabs a handful of popcorn*  
  
Psychic King: *looking forlornly at the readers* well, before I die.  
  
Iruka: *walks by and hits Psychic King on head* Stop being melodramatic. You can't die from going a few hours without food.  
  
Kakashi: *poking head in fridge* You have all sorts of food in here. Look, vegetables and even some chicken.  
  
Psychic King: RAW! All Raw. I can't eat it like that! I'll die!  
  
Kakashi: *sighing* do you want me to cook it for you?  
  
Psychic King: *looking up with big needy eyes* really? You'd do that for me? *sends a desperate look from Kakashi to Iruka*  
  
Iruka: *sighing* I suppose it's OK. This once. But don't you get used to it! Kakashi's cooking is mine!  
  
Tenmar: *walking by* Iruka! *blushing* fancy running into you here! What are you doing?  
  
Kakashi: *stepping between Iruka and Tenmar* WE are cooking something for Psychic King-sama to eat.  
  
Tenmar: *scratching chin* I see. Psychic King-sama, please allow ME to aid Iruka in the preparation of your meal!  
  
Iruka: *backing away* Oh no. Not me, I don't cook!  
  
Kakashi: I don't need any help, kid.  
  
Psychic King: Now, now. Don't be hasty! The more the merrier! I know! We'll have a cook off! Kakashi verses Tenmar! May the best cook win. *walks away dragging Iruka* Let's leave them alone and wait in the dinning room. I'm starving and sitting around thinking about food has to be the best way to get my mind off the hunger.  
  
Iruka: *casting worried glances back at the kitchen* do you think they'll be alright?  
  
Psychic King: Don't worry! They wouldn't dare to kill each other in my kitchen!  
  
Iruka: That somehow doesn't reassure me.  
  
Psychic King: Well, while we wait, how about the next chapter of Embrace to entertain you?  
  
Iruka: You have that done already?  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* And I just KNOW you're eager to see what I have happening.  
  
Iruka: *excitedly* you mean there's something about Kakashi and I in there?  
  
Psychic King: *shifting Lap top in front of Iruka* why not just take a look- see? *glancing at audience* I still don't own anything, so no suing me. Well, I DID create Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten, Mina, and Illia, but that's it! Well, technically I created the fox demon's brother's too. AND, I guess his sister in law.But still don't sue me, OK?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"Oh yeah! A new record! Beat that, Sasuke-bastard!" Naruto thrust his fist in the air as the last piece of trash fell neatly into the basket. He looked around sheepishly as he realized that Sasuke had gone to bed and had not participated in his cleaning game anyway. After a moment he hefted the trash basket over his shoulder and started to walk towards the house pausing halfway there. "Alright, you bastards, I know you're out there! If you don't show yourselves I'm gonna kick your asses!" He flung his basket of trash into the darkness and a soft thud let him know that he hit SOME kind of target.  
  
A small pause followed his abrupt statement, followed by a sigh. The sound of rustling was heard and then three figures stepped into the light. The tallest one held up his hands, Naruto strained his eyes, but nothing was visible about the man. "We don't want to fight you." He said quickly,  
  
"Yeah?" Naruto said, still standing in a ready to strike stance. "You got a funny way of showing it."  
  
Again the tall shadow spoke, "We are sorry about following you around like we have been, but we wanted to make sure we could talk to you alone. What we have to say might seem rather. strange."  
  
He didn't sound threatening, and the feeling around these men was not the air of people trying to pick a fight. The blonde allowed himself to relax a little. "OK, but what about the other one? The one still hidden over there?" He pointed to his left and grinned. To be honest, he hadn't detected the taller two men at all, but the person that remained hidden was giving off such a strong fear scent that he was sure that Sasuke must have noticed it, too, during the party.  
  
"Eep!" A small, feminine voice replied; another, smaller dark figure walked shakily out of the forest.  
  
"Now we are all out in the open. Please forgive her; she doesn't have very good. people skills." The tall man gestured to the fire, which was still burning lightly. "Why don't we sit while we talk, this may take a while?"  
  
"Yeah, alright, but if you attack me, I'll kick your damn ass extra hard for tricking me." Naruto grumbled, feeling slightly cranky as he took a seat next to the fire. It was getting late and what he REALLY wanted was to go to sleep for a while then get up and train with Sasuke. Tomorrow he was gonna beat that bastard and his smug face into the ground.  
  
"No trick." The man promised, joining him slowly on the ground by the fire. Naruto realized that the reason he couldn't tell anything about the man's features was that he was wearing a long dark cape. As the others approached he noticed similar clothing. "Well, to start with I wonder how much you know about the going-on's outside the village? For instance, have you ever left the village without a supervisor?"  
  
Naruto shook his head. The fact that leaving the village was forbidden unless under proper supervision for someone of his level had made the idea very appealing, but the fact of the matter was, every attempt he had made left him painful reminders that the Jounin guardians of the village walls were still far beyond his level.  
  
"Hum." The man seemed disappointed. "So you know nothing of life outside this little town?"  
  
Naruto shook his head again, stifling a sleepy yawn. "That's not true; I went to that island country! By the way. Why do you all have your faces covered? That's really weird." He scrunched up his face slightly.  
  
"I'll take off my hood if you answer my question, OK? And so will my brothers." Just as Tenmar guessed, the chance of getting to see something hidden was appealing to the boy, who eagerly nodded. "OK, then my next question is-"  
  
"How old are you, Naruto-kun?" Uzu broke in, ignoring his brother's indignant huff at being cut off.  
  
"I'm twelve." Naruto replied immediately.  
  
"And what're your goals in life?" Uzu continued asking, Tenmar listened interestedly. Who would have guessed that Uzu would be the best suited to understanding the boy?  
  
"I'm going to be Hokage, not just that, but I'm going to be the strongest Hokage ever, so everyone will have to take notice of me." As he spoke, Naruto stood, raising his fist in the air. "I'm gonna be so great, they'll be talking about me forever!" Almost as an after thought he added, "And I'm gonna beat Sasuke to the ground."  
  
Uzu laughed at this, "I like you, kid and I can tell you one thing; I hope you're the one we're looking for."  
  
"Yeah? Naruto asked, interests peaked, "What are you looking for exactly?"  
  
"Well, we're looking for someone born on October 10th, with a huge amount of power and a great personality."  
  
Naruto practically jumped from his seat, part of him feeling excited and the other part curious. "How'd you know all that? About me? My birthday? Where to find me, as you've obviously been looking."  
  
Uzu chuckled. "So it IS you. You are a very special person to us, Naruto-kun."  
  
Tenmar nodded. "I just have two more things I need to know before I'm certain. First off, have you ever been in a life threatening situation? Or maybe someone important was threatened?" He waited for Naruto to nod before continuing, "When that happened were you able to tap into a new kind of power? Even if you thought you were out of power, did you suddenly feel refreshed and even more powerful?"  
  
"Yeah!" Naruto nodded again, looking surprised. "I didn't think anyone else could do that!"  
  
"Well, only a few really special people can do that, not everyone. My last question is; do you ever have dreams or memories that don't seem to be yours? You see someone and something about them sparks a thought that doesn't seem to be yours?"  
  
Naruto was again nodding. Ever since his dreams had started he was much better at recognizing these flashes, too.  
  
Tenmar felt himself reach a full smile. "Well, as promised." He pulled his mask off, turning to look Naruto full in the face, Uzu and Ganten copied their brother's movements, looking fully at Naruto.  
  
Naruto stared in happy bliss at them for a moment, letting his eyestrace over each of them. The smallest to was a emotionless looking white headed boy, probably only a few years older than he was. The next was a wild looking red head with a cheerful glint in his eyes. This was the guy that had been asking him questions earlier. The last one, a grown man, made Naruto stop and stare. "Your face."  
  
Tenmar smiled at the younger blonde, "Yeah, we do look a lot alike, don't we?"  
  
"No!" Naruto almost yelled, causing his visitors to look around in worry. "I mean," he calmed himself a bit, "I mean you have the same face as someone ELSE that I once knew. Kind of." His eyes got a far away look as he remembered his dreams. The young man in front of him looked SO MUCH like the fox demon's first born son, "Tenmar; that was the name."  
  
All three boys exchanged glances, even Uzu's humor faded slightly at that remark. "How do you know that name?"  
  
"Ah, just someone from a long time ago." Naruto waved the question off, not really wanting to answer. "What's it matter?"  
  
"It matters because." Tenmar shoot a lost look to Ganten who shrugged and nodded. "It matters because that's MY name."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Nugh. Too early." Kakashi moaned sadly as he felt the covers being striped from his body, exposing his bare skin to the terrible cold. Sitting up, he sleepily yawned and looked over at his lover. "You're truly cruel, you know that?"  
  
Iruka leaned down and placed a gentile kiss on the silver haired Jounin's lips, moving away quickly as the man reached up to pull him back down into bed. "No, Kakashi. It's time to get up."  
  
"It's early!" Kakashi protested. Standing slightly he finally managed to catch his love and pull him down. "You're not still angry with me about yesterday, are you?" He gently clutched Iruka's face, looking deeply into the man's eyes.  
  
Iruka shook his head, staring just as deeply into Kakashi's visible eye. "Nope, but I still want to be there when you tell them, and that means getting up."  
  
"No," Kakashi shook his head, "I meant about that incident at the restaurant."  
  
"A little." Iruka sighed. "I hate how it made me feel; like I'm your. possession. I'm not used to." He moved away from his lover's embrace, turning away slightly. "I felt like the little woman, useless, only good for being protected." The look on his face when he turned back to Kakashi was almost frighteningly stern. "I'm not so weak physically that I need you to protect me, and I'm not so weak in my love for you that you should feel the need to look over my shoulder."  
  
Kakashi sighed. "I know that. I just. forgot?" He shook his head. "That's not it, it's just."  
  
The teacher held up his hands and silenced his lover. "I know. We're both new to this, but at least ATTEMPT to trust me, OK? Trust me to ask for your help when I can't take care of myself and trust me to be loyal to you when I'm faced with temptation."  
  
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "You were tempted by that guy?"  
  
Iruka backed away slightly. "What? I didn't say that!"  
  
"Sounded like it to me. Isn't that what you meant by 'temptation?'" He rounded playfully on his lover. "I demand an explanation."  
  
Iruka's back hit the wall with a thud. "Shit! I mean," trying desperately to make himself sound stern, "We don't have time for this right now! Kakashi!"  
  
Kakashi let out a teasing growl and grabbed the protesting brunette's hands, pulling him into his arms. "There's always a little time." He whispered, planting a passionate kiss on Iruka's lips. When their lips parted Kakashi smiled. "Now, tell me about this 'temptation' you were talking about?"  
  
"What temptation?" Iruka said, pulling Kakashi back down onto the bed. They lay holding each other for a few moments, each enjoying the other's company, until suddenly Iruka jumped from the bed, dragging half of Kakashi with him. "Very good try Kakashi, but you STILL have to get up!" He elbowed his lover square in the ribs before stalking out of the room.  
  
After that it was only a short period of time before Kakashi emerged from their bedroom, fully dressed, looking completely awake. "Good morning!" He said cheerfully, planting a kiss on Iruka's cheek and opening the fridge.  
  
"I already have the milk out. I hate how you do that, by the way, acting like you're such a great morning person, when in actuality I have to spend literally an hour sometimes dragging your sorry ass off the bed."  
  
Iruka could see Kakashi smirk under his mask. "You should feel fortunate, you are the ONLY person to know the REAL me."  
  
"Yeah? Well, sometimes I miss the fake you." Iruka replied darkly, but there was a teasing glint in his eye as he handed Kakashi a bowl for cereal. "I mean, you USED to get up early and cook for me in the morning, now we're stuck eating cold cereal and fruit. when we have the time to eat at all."  
  
"Well, if you were half the cook I am," Kakashi said, returning the good natured jibe, "than maybe it wouldn't take so long to get me up."  
  
"Getting you up has never been a problem, getting you out of bed is another story."  
  
Kakashi's eyebrow rose, if he was going to play like THAT. "Well, have you ever considered that it might be your fault that I don't want to get out of bed?"  
  
"Have you ever considered that it's your fault that I DO?" Iruka replied, making Kakashi cough up his mouthful of cereal.  
  
"You are a cruel man, Iruka-sensei."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke sat in his room listening attentively to Naruto's conversation with the strangers, trying to figure out what they were getting at. Why was Naruto so important to them and what were they planning on doing with him once they were certain if he was the one they needed? The sudden fear that they were going to take the blonde away from him popped into his head. His eyes narrowed as he listened to Naruto answering their question openly and honestly. Did the dobe have NO sense of self preservation at ALL? At least the sun was rising, now he could head down stairs to 'greet' these uninvited guests.  
  
Quickly and quietly Sasuke worked on his clothes, impatiently running a hand through his hair he headed down the stairs. He arrived outside just in time to hear the tall man announce, "Because that's MY name."  
  
"No way, because that would make you my- I mean that would make you that damn fox's son, and that's not possible." Naruto was backing away from the four now, moving slowly towards the forest where Sasuke presumed he would run for cover, but the interesting thing was that Sasuke STILL didn't sense any harmful intent coming from them. That meant it was their presence alone that was freaking the blonde out. And why had Naruto referred to himself as the demon fox, even if just for a moment? Sasuke knew that there was some sort of connection between the fox and Naruto, but. his eyes widened, what did Naruto say his birthday was? October 10th or something, right? And the fox was sealed. October 10th! And there was that seal that Sasuke had see every once in a while on Naruto's stomach. It was all coming together!  
  
"I'm sorry, Naruto-sama, but." The tall man moved quickly to block Naruto's escape to the forest. "I can't let you leave. It does sadden me that you've lost all respect for the great man you were, ah well, there's plenty of time to reminisce about that latter! I must insist that you come with us, for your own safety."  
  
Naruto moved slightly away from the forest, towards the street, but a tall red head was blocking his path in that direction as well. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, kid." The boy was saying sympathetically. "But it's for your own good. And if you want a noble reason, the town's in danger as long as you're here."  
  
Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto's shoulders began to slump in defeat. Damn! They already knew Naruto's biggest weakness. Thinking fast Sasuke yelled out, "Don't listen to them! They're no better than monsters themselves! Children of the fox?" He let out a derisive laugh, as four pairs of angry eyes turned on him. "Don't make me laugh. You are Uzumaki Naruto; don't listen to their bull shit!"  
  
"Shut up." A cool voice said near Sasuke's ear. "You have a big mouth and it makes me sick, what do you know about us anyway?" Sasuke turned slightly, but there was already a fist on route to his face, Sasuke sprung back from the white haired boy whose face was contorted with anger. The boy jumped after him, continuing his attack, as Sasuke dogged he saw Naruto, still standing in a dazed slump. "Naruto, do something, dobe!"  
  
"Ganten, stop!" The tall blonde man's voice called out commandingly. "If Naruto-sama chooses not to come with us then I will not force him. But perhaps there is one of us that can help convince him. Mina!" The still hooded figure approached, trembling slightly. The man walked her in front of Naruto and pulled back her hood.  
  
Naruto's countenance shifted as he grabbed the red headed girl in front of him by the shoulders, he whispered almost inaudibly, "Illia?"  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened, "Sakura?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: Whew! That took forever to write!!!! I was so confused, I left off at a bad place last time, and then I went out of town and everything went bad. *sniffing*  
  
Iruka: *patting his stomach* at least you got some food, right? *looking admiringly at both Kakashi and Tenmar* You both are amazing cooks! *glaring at Tenmar* But, I told you to stay AWAY from Naruto, not try to TAKE him away.  
  
Kakashi: *smiling darkly at Tenmar from behind Iruka* Well, I guess we know who won this round.  
  
Tenmar: *Glancing away* at least I have Naruto-sama! I'll. I'll wait for you Iruka! *holding back the tears*  
  
Sasuke: *walking darkly into the room* Where's Ganten? I owe him.  
  
Uzu: He's over there! And it looks like he's got a little friend! *points to the corner where Ganten is sitting, having a glaring contest with Gaara* Ain't that sweet?  
  
Sasuke: Humph! *stalks over to towards Ganten and Gaara*  
  
Psychic King: I donno. *sends a worried glance to Tenmar* Sasuke can play nice if I tell him to, but Gaara-chan is a very. special case.  
  
Sakura: *Looking around* Where's Naruto? Not that I care.  
  
Psychic King: *points to another corner where Naruto is sitting, holding his knees, a broken look in his face* He's been like that since I let him read the chapter. *sigh* Well, at least the chapter is OVER and now I can work on the NEXT chapter, which will have a happier ending, I think. Maybe. I didn't think this one was that bad.  
  
Sakura: Yeah, but once again I get cut out! Your original version of this chapter had me in it!  
  
Psychic King: Yeah. But it was SO much better without you. Sorry. *looks to the audience* Well, like I mentioned last chapter, I have been out of town, and I only just got back. I set myself down to write this chapter a few times, but I couldn't get it the way I wanted it. *sigh* but after careful thinking and consideration I think this is for the best. I'm not sure what next chapter will hold though. *wincing* I'll figure it out next chapter! I would like to dedicate this chapter to my reviewers! I love you all! It's people like you that keep people like me on a regular writing schedule! I am sorry that it's so short, but NEXT chapter will be better! I promise! Well, it's late and I am TRYING to get on a decent sleeping schedule for the beginning of the semester (ha! Like that'll happen, but.). So I shall bid you all a good night and thank you again! *Blowing kisses to the crowd* I love you! I love you!  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* you are utterly shameless, you know this, right? 


	7. Embrace of Remembering

Psychic King: *focusing really hard* Hum.  
  
Sakura: Ano. What are you doing?  
  
Psychic King: Well. I'm trying to figure out what happens this chapter.  
  
Sasuke: *Glaring* You mean you DON'T know? Haven't you written it yet?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* nope. And I guess I can't decide which idea to go with. Naruto leaves village but you go after him . has possibilities.  
  
Sakura: *in shock* What??! Go after him? Why?  
  
Psychic King: *ignoring Sakura* Naruto NOT leaving the village, Kakashi and Iruka coming JUST in time to stop him .  
  
Sasuke: *growling* I can save Naruto without their help.  
  
Psychic King: NO! Not you! You really think Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina are scared of you? Maybe if it was just one of them (and that one was Mina.), but you're dealing with FOUR! *sticks tong out* Stupid Sasuke-kun. *Quickly moving away from Sasuke* Ano. And then the other idea I get. That is Naruto leaves, you stay behind, time lapse like ten years. You know. Maybe have Naruto return some time exciting like your wedding day to Sakura.  
  
Sakura: *Jumping up and down* The last one! The last one!  
  
Sasuke: *moving forward* I'll kill you.  
  
Psychic King: BUT. I don't really want to time lapse, YET. *sighing* I guess I could have Naruto leave for a SHORT period of time and THEN time lapse to your wedding day with Sakura!  
  
Sasuke: *angrily* I'm NOT marrying Sakura!  
  
Iruka: *Patting Sasuke on the head* There, there. She wouldn't put that in her story for two reasons; reason one, it's been done in a couple stories she's read.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* sadly, I guess great minds really DO think alike. It's always so cute, Sasuke about to marry Sakura, then Naruto suddenly appears.  
  
Iruka: *continuing* and reason # 2, she would never let you really MARRY Sakura, and despite what she says she really can't be that mean to poor Sakura, dangling a wedding in her face and then wrenching it away.  
  
Psychic King: *covering Sakura's ears* Not in front of Akura-say! Geeze! She's gonna get a big head now, and it's entirely your fault!  
  
Sasuke: *sighing in relief* So there's not gonna be a Sakura wedding?  
  
Psychic King: Not for you! Maybe a Naruto wedding. I mean, Naruto being stuck as a girl isn't likely in this story, but maybe YOU could try out the Sexy no jutsu and get stuck.  
  
Sasuke: *once again stalking forward* I'll kill you.  
  
Psychic King: *backing away* It was a joke! A joke, really!  
  
Sasuke: *not listening, still moving forward*  
  
Psychic King: Aw, crap. *turns and runs away*  
  
Sasuke: *chasing after her*  
  
Sakura: *Sigh* I always get stuck doing the dumb disclaimer. *turns and walks away, muttering* Never mind, what do I care if she gets sued because I forget to say that she doesn't own us? It's none of my business.  
  
Iruka: *shaking his head* You just did the disclaimer anyway, Sakura-chan. I thought you were supposed to be my brightest student. Ah well, please enjoy this chapter! I'm sure Psychic King-sama will have come up with something.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Sakura?" Sasuke stared at the girl Naruto was holding, forgetting about the boy that had been attacking him. She looked KIND OF like Sakura, but. different. And who was Illia? He heard Naruto say that name before, while he slept. "Naruto?" But the blonde wasn't paying attention; he just stood there, holding the red head, shaking.  
  
The girl shot a frightened look to the tall blonde man who nodded. She raised her hand slowly, pulling up on the bright orange jacket Naruto always wore, exposing his stomach. Leaning in slightly, Sasuke heard her whisper shakily, "I'm so sorry."  
  
That was when he noticed her hand was glowing. "Naruto! Get out of there!" He struggled towards the boy and that was when he realized his inability to move. "Shit!" He struggled but that only resulted in him falling to his knees.  
  
"Sorry, but I can't have you interrupting them." The white haired boy that had been attacking him earlier appeared next to him, pulling a long needle from his neck. "And if I leave you with full motion you might get in the way."  
  
Sasuke felt himself fall to the ground; he was loosing even more control. It must have been some kind of poison, but there was only one thing he could think, as darkness embraced his mind. "Naruto." He said weakly, watching as the girl suddenly thrust her hand INTO Naruto's stomach, causing the blonde to arch his back and issue a soft cry of pain. "This is all your fault, dobe." A moment latter Naruto fell as well.  
  
Tenmar walked slowly over to the small blonde boy, patting Mina as he did so. "Good work." He bent slowly and picked the boy up watching sadly as his face contorted slightly. "Let's go."  
  
"What should we do with this one?" Ganten nudged Sasuke slightly with his foot, rolling the dark haired boy onto his back.  
  
Tenmar sighed, "We should at least put him back in his bed, people will be showing up soon, and if he's just lying here someone will be after us much sooner."  
  
"Did you hear the way he talked? 'Children of the fox? Don't make me laugh!'" Uzu impersonated as he lay Sasuke down in his room. "Not just him, but the kid, too. What sort of terrible lies must they have grown up with, that they hate him so much?"  
  
"It doesn't matter. Come on."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto found himself lying in a long dark corridor. "What the hell am I?" His voice echoed quietly back to him. Pushing himself into a sitting position he crossed his arms and began to think. "Let's see, I was cleaning Sasuke's yard, and then. Those guys came and we started talking, but they said something weird and. Illia!" As he said the words the hall filled with pictures, not just a few, but everywhere, on the ceiling, the floor. Each showed the woman from his dreams, in each she was doing something different.  
  
He stood and began to slowly pace the corridor, looking at the pictures. One caught his eye the most; it was something he had dreamt about. Illia, sitting at the lake, smiling. That was the day they confessed their love for one another. As he looked he realized the water looked like it was actually moving, he could almost hear Illia calling his name.  
  
"Naruto." He jumped as the picture came to life around him, drawing him in. Illia moved closer to him. "What?" She said with a laugh, "you look like you've seen a ghost!"  
  
Naruto's legs moved against his will, closer to the painting woman. His lips moved without him telling them to. "Just an angel." He could feel his face break into a silly smile.  
  
That response got him a playful smack on his arm, and a gentle laugh. "Right. That has to be the worst line I've ever heard, and that includes your brothers, 'I'll give you a choice, you can marry me or your village can burn,' thing."  
  
Tan, gruff hands grabbed pale, soft ones. "I meant it."  
  
Illia's smile wavered, "So did your brother."  
  
"I can protect you from him. I'm stronger than he is, I can keep you safe." Naruto felt himself stand, turn away from the girl, "and Tagen will honor my claim if you agree."  
  
"No." Illia said sadly, "He'll blame me for tearing his family apart. You don't know how much your brother relies on you, if I agreed to marry you he'll lose that! We'd have to leave; you know that, he knows that, Kentaar knows that! If only to protect my village we would be forced to leave!"  
  
Naruto's hand racked through his hair, and his body turned to face Illia, whose face was streaked with tears. "Do you love me?"  
  
Illia's tears increased, and she could only nod in reply.  
  
"Then MARRY me! God! It's so simple! I don't care if I never see Kentaar again if I can be with you! I don't care if I have to kill the evil, spineless bastard! I'll go do it now!" Naruto felt his body turn, pulling him away from the sobbing woman.  
  
"No!" She seemed to have found her voice again, as she flung herself into Naruto's arms. "No! I don't know what I'd do if he killed you!"  
  
Naruto felt a smile fill his face again, "So marry me." His hands were cupping her face, their faces were getting closer, and then their lips touched briefly. She gave him a small nod and a triumphant smile covered his face. "There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"  
  
She laughed, but her voice was getting distant now, Naruto felt himself being pulled away and suddenly he was back in the hallway again. "Weird." With a flurry the pictures of Illia were gone, replaced with random pictures of some of the strangest things he'd ever seen. Some on these memories were from his own lifetime, like that weird guy Shino, and the creepy way he always seemed to have bugs around him.  
  
Being extra careful not to look deeply into any of the pictures, he glanced around. "Hum. What about something I wouldn't remember much about. my father." He stood and waited, only a few pictures appeared. The large hallway seemed empty. He looked around, but the pictures didn't have anyone that could be his father in them at all, he recognized all these people, they were people that had been kind to him, that perhaps at one time or another he had dreamed of having for a father, but nothing from his past life at all.  
  
"Wait. not MY past life, that monster's! I'm not that damn thing that destroyed Konoha!" He called out, as he realized that he was thinking of himself as the demon. Then he chided himself as he realized he spoke out loud again. The hall was full of pictures now, pictures of a muscular man with grey-brown hair and yellow eyes.  
  
"What?" Naruto said, "THAT'S what the fox demon looked like?" The hall changed again, as pictures of Naruto filled the corridor, in some he was older than twelve, in some he was practically a baby, in some he stood with Sakura and Sasuke, but they were all definitely him. "What the-" He glanced from picture to picture, but there was one large one that stood out to him. He walked over to it slowly. It was huge. He stood full in front of it, looking it up and down. It looked like it was made of patches of many pictures, but his face stared back at him. He stared at it in a mixture of wonder and terror, fixated, waiting to be dragged into the picture.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke woke up, his head screaming in pain. "What? Naruto!"  
  
Iruka pushed him gently back down onto bed, his face etched with concern. "Lie down. The poison's not out of your system yet."  
  
Sasuke ignored Iruka's order and glanced around. "Where's Naruto?"  
  
Iruka sighed. "He's gone. We've looked everywhere. You have to tell me everything you know. If Naruto's not found there could be very big trouble. So, can you remember anything? Anything at all?"  
  
"There was some girl whose hand was glowing, she. stuck her hand inside his stomach. That's all I could see before." He fell silent, face a mask of dark emotions. "It was like the dobe WANTED to be taken, he just SAT there."  
  
"I there anything else? Physical characteristics? A name maybe?"  
  
"Yeah. She looked kind of like Sakura. He called her Illia." Sasuke fell back onto the bed, asleep.  
  
"Illia?" Kakashi asked, walking into the room, glancing at the passed out Sasuke. "And she looked like Sakura?"  
  
"Does it mean something to you, Kakashi?"  
  
"Maybe, it'd be too early to be certain." He turned. "I'll be back soon, watch over Sasuke."  
  
"Damn it Kakashi, why do you always have to be so mysterious?" But even as Iruka asked, his mask lover was nowhere to be seen. "I'll just wait here, then."  
  
Kakashi jumped away from his lover with a slight guilty feeling. "Sorry Iruka, I couldn't bear to get your hopes up, though." He landed soundlessly outside the Haruno residence. Sakura pulled the door open before he could even knock.  
  
"Sensei! What's going on? Has Sasuke woken up yet? Is Naruto back?" Her fists were clutched helplessly at her chest, and her eyes were so desperate.  
  
He sighed, "Gomen, Sakura. Sasuke woke up for a short while, but it looks like it's gonna take a while for him to regain his strength completely. Naruto is still missing. And I'm here to speak to your mother."  
  
Feeling lost and helpless, Sakura wordlessly stepped aside and let Kakashi in. He mother turned the corner, wiping her hands on her apron. "Sakura, you should have told me we had company! Kakashi-sensei, isn't it?" She held out her hand in greeting to the jounin.  
  
"Yes, mam. It's good to finally meet one of my student's mothers." Kakashi said, taking the offered hand, trying desperately to keep the urgent feeling down. A few moments of pleasantries were NOT going to slow down Naruto's retrieval or Sasuke's awakening.  
  
"And what do I owe this visit? Sakura never tells me what's going on in her life now that she's an adult." The woman sent a wink towards Kakashi. "But a mother can always tell when something's bothering her daughter."  
  
"Actually, that IS what I'm here about, you see, Naruto has disappeared. The only person to see what happened was their teammate, Sasuke, who was heavily drugged. He woke for a short time and said that someone that kind of resembled your daughter was responsible. He said Naruto called her Illia."  
  
The plump woman fell into a nearby chair, hands clenched at her mouth. "That's not possible, Illia died the night the demon attacked."  
  
"Are you certain?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye watching for some hint of a lie or hesitation.  
  
"Completely." The woman sighed, "There are a few things you should know, Kakashi, if you're going to find Naruto."  
  
"Oh?" His eyebrow raised. This woman was going to be more helpful than he thought.  
  
"First, the fox demon was not the one who attacked our village that night."  
  
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you ever mention this before?"  
  
"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry, but the Fourth died sealing the wrong guy? I think we should unleash THIS demon and go after another one, because this one just lost his wife and his children are going to need him.' I somehow don't think that would go over very well."  
  
"Children? Does the Hokage know ANY of this?" Kakashi demanded. There was definitely no lie in this woman's words.  
  
"Probably. How should I know what the Hokage does or does not know? I'm just a simple house wife. Do you want to know the rest or not? SOMEONE should be out looking for Naruto-kun, you know."  
  
Kakashi sat for a moment in shocked silence before nodding, adding ruefully, "You are anything but a simple housewife, I think, Haruno-san."  
  
The woman rolled her eyes before continuing her story. "Second, as I already mentioned, the fox was MARRIED to Illia, they had four children.Let me see if I can remember their names.I never properly met them, but Illia talked of them so often. Let's see. Tenmar was the eldest, he's probably around 21 or 22 now; then came Uzu, the trickster; and then Ganten followed by the daughter. Marna? Something like that. I don't know much about the younger two, they were so young when they lost their mother. And that unfortunate business with their father." The woman shifted a distraught look still covering her face. "My guess is that it was those cubs that took Naruto-kun, but it could have been the real monster. The only reason I think it's even possible that it's the cubs is because they left the Uuchia boy alive, so that's not proof."  
  
Kakashi sighed. "So you're telling me that the fox demon was framed by some other demon and that he married your sister in law, Illia, and they had four children and it was probably their children that kidnapped Naruto and it's possible that the Hokage isn't even aware of these things?"  
  
Sakura's mother nodded, "That's what I'm telling you. And you're always complaining that he's not very bright, Sakura!"  
  
Kakashi scratched a masked cheek, glancing at Sakura. He had forgotten she was there. "Ahem, well. I should go report my findings. Thank you, Haruno-san."  
  
"I have a lot of respect for that boy, growing up as he did. Probably should have been more helpful to him, but. I never knew what to say, how to act. I'd do anything for him though, as if he was one of my own. Just know; if you find him and it IS the little ones that took him, it might be too late to get back the Naruto you knew."  
  
Kakashi nodded and was gone. He felt a small smirk grace his face as he thought, "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now, having to explain that story to Sakura." The realization that he was going to have to explain it to Iruka sunk in quickly after, managing to bring down his good mood. "Maybe I should just go look for him without Iruka." He shook the thought away, right now he needed to report his findings to the Hokage.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tenmar stood again, pacing slowly in front of the room they had put Naruto into. "How long will this thing take?" He asked for the fourth time.  
  
Ganten sighed as he watched his brother's restlessness. "It depends on how long it takes for him to accept the memories. The Chakara will flow into him when he's mentally and emotionally ready to handle it. I created this slow working technique for that purpose, I suppose it IS theoretically possible that he will deny the memories completely and remain asleep forever, but then, it's only BEEN three hours, so it would be a little premature to assume that. I would wait at least three weeks before worrying about that."  
  
Uzu stood and placed a warm hand on Tenmar's shoulder. "Calm down. This IS dad we're talking about. He'll be up and about in no time. I bet we won't even have to wait long enough to start worrying about who's gonna change the sheets when he performs necessary body functions!"  
  
With both his brothers 'reassurances' Tenmar felt almost worse. "I just hate to wait here. I mean, we're like sitting ducks and Mina's cut herself off since we left that village. Until he wakes up, she's probably going to keep acting like a cornered kit-"  
  
There was the sound of movement in the cave, the boys looked at each other in surprise. "Ganten, go get Mina!" Ganten nodded and was gone, leaving Uzu and Tenmar to sit and stare at the cave.  
  
"Ow! Damn. That's a low roof." The voice inside was definitely awake. The air suddenly chilled as a burst of raw power shot out from the cave, causing more crashing noises. "Oh yeah. It's been a long time."  
  
Uzu looked questioningly at Tenmar, an excitement in his voice. "You think we should go to greet him?"  
  
Tenmar looked slightly blank, and then smiled. "I don't know." He turned and called into the cave, "Naruto-sama? Are you alright in there?"  
  
"What kind of question is that?" A deep voice replied from near the doorway of the cave. "Of course I'm alright." A tall figure walked towards the exit of the cave, blonde hair already shimmering in the sunlight.  
  
Tenmar could only stand in amazement as his father, looking just like he did the day he left 12 years ago, stood before him again. Uzu had already bolted from his position, racing to greet the man at the mouth of the cave. "Father." For the first time in twelve years Tenmar felt a ray of hope blossom in his chest as he ran behind his brother.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *sigh* A happy chapter ending for the children. *glancing a Sasuke* and next chapter the time lapse and wedding for Sasuke and Sakura!  
  
Sasuke: WHAT? Teme.  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* I'm TEASING, geeze, get a sense of humor, weird-o.  
  
Sakura: *sigh* That's all well and good, but what the heck happened? You said NO huge time lapse.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* And there wasn't! You think with Naruto's full Chakara out he couldn't control what age he looks? My only problem now is. Is Iruka Jewish?  
  
Sakura: *looking confused* what? Where'd that come from?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* Well, apparently I called him a gentile in the last chapter. Wasn't quite what I had been going for, but. if he's Jewish he's gonna be pissed.  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* I wouldn't worry about it, really. *watches as Uzu, Tenmar and adult Naruto walk into the room*  
  
Uzu: *Hanging off a full grown Naruto* Daddy!  
  
Tenmar: *holding onto Naruto's other side* Father. It's so good to have you back!  
  
Adult Naruto: *smiling at Psychic King, Sakura and Sasuke* Hi guys! What's up?  
  
Sasuke: *small trickle of blood coming from his nose* THAT'S what Naruto is going to look like.?  
  
Sakura: *blushing* When does this happen? He's. tall. and. *blushing more*  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* Yay! Naruto! How do you like your new body?  
  
Adult Naruto: *Pulls Tenmar and Uzu off and whispers to Psychic King* It's alright, but I don't want to be like this forever. Life was GOOD in Konoha, and I was really starting to get some respect! Anyway, if this manga thing is right *holds up some Naruto manga* they're still gonna need me there. I mean, I want to help the kids, sure, but I don't see why we don't just go back there together so I can do both.  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* Say no more! I have a few ideas, trust me! I wouldn't leave Sasuke hanging like that.  
  
Naruto: *rubbing the back of his head* You know, I understand those jokes now, the ones you're always tormenting Sasuke with. About me.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* ah yes, I feared that insight into certain things would come with the memories. *clearing throat* Ahem. Do you want me to stop them?  
  
Naruto: *shakes head* No way, he's so cute when he blushes. *giggling*  
  
Psychic King: *sigh* some things never change. *looks to the audience* Anyway, peoples, I just wanted to say that I will NOT leave things as they are! I promise! I have lots of ideas! Just not right now. Right now sleep. *falls asleep*  
  
Adult Naruto: *covering Psychic King* Aw. isn't that cute? *changing back into a 12 year old* Well, while the writers away. *runs up to Sasuke and Sakura* Hi!  
  
Sakura: *looking disappointedly at Naruto* what happened to being older and good looking?  
  
Naruto: *pouting* Sakura-chan! How cruel.  
  
Psychic King: *talking in her sleep* Review. Mumh, nice reviewers.  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* Even in her sleep. 


	8. Embrace of Family

Psychic King: *Crying in hands*  
  
Tenmar: *walks by* Psychic King-sama! Are you alright?  
  
Psychic King: *shakes head, still crying*  
  
Naruto: *walking by with Sasuke* what's wrong with the old hag?  
  
Tenmar: *looking worried* I don't know. She was like this when I came in!  
  
Psychic King: *looking up* I hate MEN!  
  
Sasuke, Naruto and Tenmar: *backing away*  
  
Psychic King: *looks ashamed* No, not you guys! It's just... *bursts into tears, starts speaking quickly* ItsjustmyroommatehadhisfriendoverandhewaspickingonmeandItoldhimtostopandheca lledme... He called me... *hides face*  
  
Sakura: *walking by* What's wrong with her?  
  
Naruto: *gulping* She hates men and some guy called her a name.  
  
Tenmar: *looking admirably at Naruto* you managed to figure out what she said? I thought she was speaking some alien language from her home planet.  
  
Sakura: Oh dear. *walks slowly over to Psychic King* Ano... Are you alright Psychic King-sama? *pats her awkwardly on the back*  
  
Iruka and Kakashi: *suddenly appearing*  
  
Naruto: *looks at their confused faces* Some guy called her a name.  
  
Kakashi: What did he call her?  
  
Psychic King: *screaming* NO! I can't say it out loud! *suddenly standing, righteous fire of hell in the background* I'm gonna beat the crap out of that guy! How dare he call me-  
  
Everyone else: *leaning in*  
  
Psychic King: *once again sobbing* I can't say it...  
  
Everyone else: *sweatdrop*  
  
Psychic King: *to the audience, still crying* Hi everyone... I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update... School just started and I've been a little stressed out, I got dropped from two of my classes this semester because the school didn't receive my transferred credits yet (it's been almost a year, so I don't know WHY) and the teachers can't let me back into my classes even if the school gets them, which drops me below full time student level, and my job is for the university and is dependent on my taking a certain amount of credits. I'm TRYING to get into one more small class, but it isn't looking good... *Sigh* to top it all off my roommate's male bastard friend has been hanging around lately and he seems to love to give me strife, so... *brightening* Anyway, as you MAY have guessed I did NOT buy the rights to Naruto suddenly between updates, so standard disclaimers apply, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter! It was a hard one for me to write, just like chapter 7 for some reason, so... I hope you all like it! *walking away* It always cheers me up to do the disclaimer...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 8  
  
"Heh. Glad you remember me." Naruto's voice- no his father's voice- reached Tenmar as he stopped next to the man. He looked exactly, to the day, how his father looked the day mother died...  
  
"You're not as tall as I remember you, old man." Uzu was the first to find his voice, as he smiled up at the man before him. "I mean, you were a giant last time I saw you."  
  
"Yeah? Well back then you were only about yea tall." The man held his hands below his waist. "It's good to see that you've grown, I remember worrying that you'd get stuck at that height."  
  
Uzu laughed, "Yeah? Speak for yourself. How long are you gonna be stuck in that body anyway?"  
  
With a pop and puff of smoke Naruto's adult body disappeared, replaced by his twelve year old appearance. He scratched his head, a humored look on his face. "Heh. Didn't think you'd figure it out so quick." He shrugged. "Just thought you'd like to see me as I was, but I guess I'll be like this for at LEAST another few years. Good to know there's a BIG growth spurt coming my way, though. See Sasuke beat that!"  
  
Naruto's adorable childish manner and appearance were both being used to their fullest, Tenmar realized, as the boy placed his hands on his hips and laughed, Uzu joining him for effect. He shook his head as he looked from one to another, realizing that it was Uzu who had truly copied the habits and personality of their father most. 'And I tried so hard... I guess I forgot how mother was always calling him 'That foolish man!' And his pranks on his brothers... I remember that now. But the underneath...'  
  
A fist came down hard on Uzu's head, as Ganten and Mina appeared. "What's so funny, moron?"  
  
"Ite! Ganten, that was harsh! I was having fun with Daddy!" Uzu rubbed the top of his head, looking to Naruto for support. "Did you see that, Daddy?"  
  
Ganten gave his older brother a disgusted snort. "Aren't you too old to be crying to your father? Anyway, 'Daddy' is a twelve year old little boy." He turned his attention to said little boy. "How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Are you experiencing any dizziness or confusion?"  
  
Uzu waved his younger brother away from Naruto. "You gotta forgive him, despite the way he acts (cold hearted bastard), he's been our 'mother' and Tenmar here is 'dad.'" He grinned and stuck out his tong as both his brothers shot him disturbed looks.  
  
"I'm great!" Naruto replied to the boy's earlier questions. "Feel like I've slept all day!"  
  
There was a long moment of silence, in which Ganten proceeded to pull off Naruto's shirt and prod at various places n his exposed upper torso. Naruto sat quietly and allowed the boy to do his work. Looking up he noticed that Tenmar and Uzu were smiling at him. He grind in response and glanced at Mina. She was looking away, a slight blush on her face, and her eyes looked so... tormented... "Eto... Mina?" She glanced at him apprehensively and looked quickly away. "Sorry. When you guys appeared I wasn't thinking too well and... I didn't mean to freak you out."  
  
"It's fine." Ganten spoke, looking up from Naruto's navel, where he was doing something, but Naruto wasn't sure what exactly. "She's just not good with strangers.  
  
"Oi!" Tenmar spoke, looking from Ganten to Mina and jumping to his feet, "This isn't some random stranger!"  
  
"Uh... Oniisan, I know what you mean, but please don't shout at Mina, you'll make her cry." Uzu crouched next to his huddled, trembling sister and patted her head. "There, there. Tenmar didn't mean anything by it! But he does have a point, Daddy isn't a stranger, he used to change your diaper and play hiding games with you and he'd rock you when you cried and feed you when you were hungry. Now how can someone like that be a stranger?"  
  
Naruto shook his head, his eyes held kindness. "Nah, she doesn't even remember that stuff. To be honest, I don't remember everything, either." He backed away as Ganten's face shot up and peered suspiciously into Naruto's eyes.  
  
"You're having problems remembering things? Like what?"  
  
"Um..." Naruto tried to back away, but Ganten followed him mercilessly around the cave, cold eyes boring into his face. "It's just... I mean, forgetting is normal, right? If I remembered everything than my brain would fill up, right?"  
  
"Take off your pants, Naruto-sama." Ganten ordered, having managed to get Naruto to back himself into a corner.  
  
"What? Why?" Naruto looked desperately around, wondering if he should do his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to escape.  
  
"Daddy, don't worry, I'll help you!" Uzu jumped rambunctiously over his brother and landed next to Naruto, grabbing his hand he pulled Naruto into a fierce body lock.  
  
"Uzu! You traitor!" Naruto screamed and struggled, but eventually Uzu won out and Ganten managed to get his pants off.  
  
"Ah... See that wasn't so bad!" Uzu commented as Naruto pulled them back up moments latter.  
  
"Physically you're fine." Ganten said, rubbing his hands with a damp cloth. "It's OK Mina, you can uncover your eyes now. I think that emotionally you are drained, though."  
  
"That's fine, I should head back to Sasuke's anyway. I bet that bastard is getting worried." He smirked a bit, imagining Sasuke with a worried face. He watched as Tenmar and Ganten exchanged a glance. "He's OK, right? You didn't... Hurt him, did you?"  
  
"No, no, nothing like that!" Tenmar answered quickly. "We just thought- THINK that everyone would be better off if you stayed here..." Seeing a look of defiance cross the blonde's face he added quickly, "for the night."  
  
"Hum... It IS getting pretty late, and I bet that Iruka-sensei's noticed that I'm missing now, too... Alright! It's decided! I'll stay the night here and we can go back first thing in the morning!" Hands on hips he laughed, Uzu again joined him for effect.  
  
"They look like twin idiots..." Ganten said, hiding a small smile with his hand. He looked at is oldest brother, "Tenmar?"  
  
Tenmar's mind was off a million miles away, "Iruka-sensei..." A strange smile started to form on his lips, and he began rounding his siblings and child-father to bed. "OK! Time to sleep! We've got an early day tomorrow!"  
  
"But it's early!" Naruto whined, "And I just got up!"  
  
"Mina and I want to stay and talk to Daddy! Don't we Mina?" Uzu nudged his sister, who gave a small squeaking noise, but nodded.  
  
"That's it! Tenmar! As your father I insist that you allow us to stay up late!" Naruto stomped his foot, but Tenmar was already narrowing into him.  
  
"Naruto-sama, you wouldn't set a bad example for your children, would you?" The fires of hell seemed to burn in the background.  
  
"Hey! Don't look at me, I'm only twelve!"  
  
"And yet you just tried to claim that as our father, you felt we should stay awake?"  
  
"Hey! Don't yell at Daddy!" Uzu jumped in.  
  
"LOOK AT THIS! You arguing with me made Mina cry! You two get to bed this instant!"  
  
Ganten shook his head once more as Tenmar finally won out and dragged Uzu, Naruto and Mina off to the corner they slept in, pulling out furs and blankets. "Idiots..."  
  
"Ganten, you too! It's time for sleep!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakashi did not return to Sasuke's house until much latter that evening, leaving Iruka alone to wait and watch over Sasuke. Iruka paced around Sasuke's kitchen nervously. The boy had long ago fallen into a more peaceful slumber, so Iruka felt the need to leave him alone. This also gave the teacher time to organize his thoughts. "Damn it! When he gets back I'm gonna-"  
  
"Gonna what?" Kakashi walked lazily into the kitchen.  
  
Iruka jumped to his feet, knocking over a chair. "You'd better know something, have SOME bit of information, or so help me, I'll-"  
  
Kakashi put his hand over the brunette's mouth. "Shush, love. Don't say anything you'll regret after we've gone and found the little rascal."  
  
"So you found him?" Iruka barley waited for Kakashi's nod to throw his arms around the man. "Thank God! Kakashi, is he alright? Where is he?"  
  
Kakashi patted his lover's head. "He's in the forest, to the north. Do you remember that blonde man that came to ask you questions, Tenmar? He was the one that took him. I'm supposed to get together a group, we'll get him back for sure, so wait a little longer with-"  
  
"Absolutely not. When do we head out?"  
  
Kakashi sighed, "Iruka, love-"  
  
"Don't 'Iruka, love' me! I'm going. I know Naruto best, plus, as the one that gave Tenmar the information about Naruto, it is my duty to see this through."  
  
"Fine. Get ready, we head out immediately." Kakashi ordered, running his hand through his silver hair in an annoyed manner.  
  
"That seemed too easy..."  
  
"Did you want me to argue with you?"  
  
"No Sir!" Iruka did a mock salute and grabbed his things. He was suddenly very glad that he brought them with him to Sasuke's 'just in case.' He looked at Kakashi evenly. "Is anyone else going with us?"  
  
Kakashi sighed, to be honest after hearing the story the Hokage seemed to loose all sense of worry over the situation. He told Kakashi to take Sasuke and Sakura, saying that it might be a chance for them to see a completely new side of Naruto. With Sasuke still sleeping off the affects of being drugged, however, Kakashi had persuaded the Hokage to allow him to go alone. "Just us." Iruka nodded and they walked out the door.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It took longer than usual for Naruto to finally fall asleep. His 'nap' plus the excitement of meeting 'his' children and combining with the demon were all working against him, as he turned and looked over at Uzu's smiling sleeping face. 'I'm gonna have to tell them... That I'm not what they think I am... That I'm just a kid...'  
  
He remembered clearly his time spent in the long hallway with the pictures. That last picture... He had walked almost strait into it, his inner mind, with that last picture. He knew now, he was Uzumaki Naruto; half fox half... something else. He didn't have parents in either life, not that he remembered, but he had an older 'brother' that raised him, and he in turn helped to raise their two younger brothers. In his earliest memory of that life he looked about the age he was now and he was asking his older brother what their mother was like. Tagen had simply smiled sadly at him, he never answered the question, but the knowledge that it made his brother sad to think about it was enough. Naruto never asked the question again.  
  
But despite being the fox, he was still himself. His life as the fox was like another world, another eternity. It was not something he could completely associate with. To love a woman that much, that way? To really love his children? The even think of them as his? These were things that Naruto was neither comfortable nor ready to think about.  
  
Part of him also knew that they wanted him to stay with them. Part of him WANTED to stay with them. It would be a chance to have a real family, blood relatives and all. The situation would be a little different, but... He had once heard Iruka-sensei say that everyone's family was a little strange. The problem was whenever he thought about it the thought that he'd be leaving Sasuke came up. Not just Sasuke, but Sakura- chan, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and everyone else back at the village, but Sasuke most of all. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what that could mean, especially now. It was complicated and stupid and he didn't want to deal with it. Not with any of it, so for now, he was Uzumaki Naruto, twelve year old Ninja of the Konoha village and the number one loud mouth rookie. It was selfish, perhaps, but it was also the most reasonable way to deal with the sudden way things happened for now.  
  
Another problem Naruto was sure would arise was his power level. His body just couldn't handle him walking around with all that Chakara all the time. Most of his power continued to sit in reserves in his navel, like it had when he was sealed. It wouldn't be TOO hard to tap into it, not like before, but it was still bound to be disappointing to them, a thought that held a strange terror for him. Since when did he care about disappointing people? But they were different, they were... Something special, even Mina, who was still so terrified of him that she was unable to say more than one word in his presence. Maybe he should approach her in adult form next time? She would be able to see through the illusion, just as Uzu had, but it might still comfort her a little more.  
  
He thought all these things, realizing that he wasn't even thinking like himself anymore, but he pushed those types of thoughts aside. That was a whole different matter not to think about, and sleep would be a good idea. For some reason Tenmar had announced that they would be heading back to the village very early the next morning. He shrugged as sleep started closing in, maybe Tenmar didn't want him to stay after all...  
  
In another part of the cave, Tenmar also laid awake, thinking, "Tomorrow... I can see Iruka-sensei again tomorrow..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Darkness..." Naruto mumbled miserably, looking around himself. "WHY do all my dreams start with complete darkness recently?" He started walking around, usually around this time something would start speaking to him, or flashing by him. Thinking perhaps he needed to say a trigger word he said the first thing that came to mind, "Sasuke." He waited a moment, then another, nothing happened.  
  
"Sakura, Illia, Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten, Mina..." Still nothing. Sighing he flipped himself down on his back, fingers idly tracing the spot where his seal had been. Some how this made him think of Shikamaru, and the one time he had sat with him, watching the clouds move lazily overhead. "I have to go back to Konoha... There's too many people I still want to protect..."  
  
"Konoha? That little Ninja village I attacked for you?" A voice like pure hatred dripped sweetly near Naruto's ear. "Oh, how delightful it is... Those idiot children broke your seal just right, so I, too, could gaze into your perfect memories. Of course, I spent a little more time, running around inside your core... Oh, the things I could tell you that you don't even understand yourself yet... Like your choices in future mates... Tsk, tsk, dear older brother, don't you think that Illia would be so sad to know that after only twelve years you already managed to find some lovely replacements? Of course, that would only be a secondary disappointment to the fact that you managed to forget her the VERY DAY she died. Don't you feel any remorse? Well?"  
  
Throughout this monologue Naruto had been trying to say something, DO something, but it was as if he was frozen. The dream that had started unlocking his memories came back to him. This was very similar, too similar, how had he gotten out of the last dream? Maybe he could force himself to wake up... A sharp pain shot through his entire body.  
  
"Are you listening, BROTHER?" the pain subsided, "Of course, even if you're not ready to admit it, we ARE brothers, so I could really never hurt you, not you... I know, in your own twisted way you really DO love me still, don't you big brother? Did you know, after that mean, nasty Hokage sealed you away our little family split up? Did you know that? Tagen said he couldn't trust me anymore, you always were his favorite, so he took his little wife and his children and Aki and they left me behind, all alone. Does it make you sad to hear that?"  
  
The voice changed, the bitter sound falling away and an almost lonely tone taking its place. "It was so sad, brother, so lonely... and all I could think of was you, brother, and how I lost your trust. It was bad of me to hate you for taking away that woman, I should never have let a woman come between us. I realized that, so, you do understand, I HAD to kill her, don't you understand? So we could be a family again... Those damn offspring of hers as well, they would only remind me of her... But you went and stopped me before I could get to the children, and then you got sealed and I thought you were dead. Imagine my joy when those disgusting brats I'd been staking actually managed to find you, and now even take you from the protection of that disgusting little village you were forced to stay in..."  
  
"Of course," the voice droned on, "I DO have to punish you, for taking away the one thing I ever really wanted for myself... She was nice to look at, wasn't she? And fun to play with... Oh, yes, I spent a LONG time in THOSE memories, brother. It's only fair, as you DEPRIVED me." The voice turned once again bitter. "And I can't forgive you, not yet, not completely. I just need to take care of a few things, you know an eye for an eye... You took from me what I wanted most, so I'll take from you those you want most, although, it's such a tall order, an entire Ninja village, you really can never be easy, can you? Of course, when everything is over, I will still need to take care of the brats. I absolutely could NOT leave them running wild, I only left them alive for so long because they were so useful. Always searching for you. No, they simply must go, it would drive me crazy to have to look at their disgusting faces... But don't worry brother, soon I will take care of everything and we can be a family again, just you, me, Aki and Tagen. Like the good old days..."  
  
With that said the dark presence lifted from Naruto's mind, and he found his voice. "KENTAAR!!!!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *looking at audience* Well, was it worth the wait? *sniff* It might have been terrible, because I'm so upset right now...  
  
Sakura: *patting Psychic King on the back* There, there, maybe you should take a nice long break from writing for a while, until you calm down...  
  
Iruka: *handing Psychic King some tea* Sakura, she's upset, don't be selfish.  
  
Sakura: *mumbling* sorry... Anyway, Psychic King-sama, you have to get it out, tell us what he said about you to make you so upset. It will make you feel better, I promise!  
  
Psychic King: *looking around to see no one by Sakura and Iruka are near by* Ok he called me *leans in close and whispers to Iuka and Sakura*  
  
Sakura: *Blazing fires of Hell behind her* THAT BASTARD! NARUTO! SASUKE! GET OVER HERE NOW! We got a mission!  
  
Iruka: *face a mixture of anger and confusion* But if you were that first thing, then HOW could you POSSIBLY be that second one?  
  
Psychic King: *bursts into fresh tears* I don't KNOW!  
  
Sasuke: *appearing with Naruto* what it is?  
  
Sakura: *Still fuming* we have a bastard to teach a lesson to!  
  
Naruto: *backing away* who?  
  
Sakura: That arrogant jerk that insulted Psychic King-sama!  
  
Naruto: *confused* I thought you didn't like her all that much, so why are you-  
  
Sakura: *flames rising higher* There are something you just don't call ANY woman. Let's go. *stalks off dragging Naruto and Sasuke*  
  
Psychic King: *looking at readers* Ano... Hi! Well... I'll update you on my revenge and luck with classes next chapter... But for now... Please help to brighten my day and review! I could use the cheering up! My reviews for Chapter Seven were really helpful through this frustrating situation, too... I promise to get chapter 9 up as soon as possible, but I should warn you that now that the semesters up I have work AND school, so updates will not be every night (like I did for a few chapters...)... But as often as possible! (Hopefully something more like 1-2 chapters per week! I hope that's often enough... Of course, if I don't get into another class then I can't work and my updates may come a WHOLE LOT more often, to escape the useless feeling... Anyway, please review! 


	9. Embrace of Regathering

Psychic King: Hi everyone! Sorry about the wait, but here it is! The long awaited ninth chapter! I hope everyone likes it. I want to start with a quick apology, this chapter is NOT as heavily edited as I would like it to be, but I wanted to get it out, as tomorrow I won't have time to post it and if I didn't get it out NOW it might NEVER get out, you know?  
  
Sakura: *lugging a human shaped sack over her shoulder* Hey! Psychic King- sama, I got the guy! He was quite a runner, but we caught him eventually, right Naruto? Sasuke?  
  
Naruto: *eyes wide, voice shaking* Oh... Oh my God... It was terrible, awful! She... She hit him and then she took out the spork and... NO! Not there! *cowers on the floor*  
  
Sasuke: ...  
  
Psychic King: *eyeing the sack* Ah, you caught him, did you? Good I hope he's still alive, I have PLANS for this boy...  
  
Sakura: *huffing* He'll never call a woman such things EVER again. Bastard.  
  
Naruto: *muttering and shaking, clinging to Sasuke*  
  
Sakura: *glancing at the two* Naruto! Get your hands off Sasuke!  
  
Naruto: *drops Sasuke like hot metal* Yes mam! Whatever you say mam! Just don't pull out that spork again, please, I can't watch you do that anymore. I may never sleep again...  
  
Sasuke: ... *raises a shaking hand towards Naruto* Pl~ please... don't leave me-  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* Well, you seem to have made quite an impact on the boys, so I'm sure whatever you did is fine! We can continue with the rehabilitation later. *looks to audience* Anyway, like I said, I'm sorry this chapter took so long, with school problems and the restart of work I am a very busy Psychic King right now. But when things get settled and organized it'll be better. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that replied sympathetically to my plight, you are all wonderful! Also, you may have noticed that I do not reply to individual reviewers, if you have something to say and WANT a reply, you can always e-mail me at Psychic_King@hotmail.com I love getting e-mail and I check it daily. Of course, please still review to fanfiction.net because the numbers going up is my truest joy.  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* sad, isn't she?  
  
Sasuke and Naruto: *inching slowly towards off screen*  
  
Psychic King: Anyway, I have a few more things to say before I start the story! First off, thank you to everyone that catches my little bloopers. I have been paying attention and trying to stop these mistakes from repeating in future chapters, so keep letting me know! And secondly, I really appreciate your support for my original characters! I have ideas and plans for them, but it really depends on how epic I want this story to end up being... I will warn you that if you want a really long, epic story, let me know in the reviews, how does the saying go 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?' I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure how many to introduce, so if your looking for a quick ending let me know THAT too. Anyway, I've made you wait long enough, sorry that the chapter is a little short, but please enjoy all the same!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 9  
  
"Kentaar! I'LL KILL YOU!" Was the words Naruto was trying to form, but it came out as more of a strangled scream as his body shot up from his position on the ground. Three heads popped up around him, each staring at him in sleepy concern. From the mouth of the cave Tenmar appeared.  
  
"Daddy?" Uzu's voice was filled with concern, "Are you alright?"  
  
Naruto shook his head, feeling the same distant, unfocused feeling that he had felt that night in Sasuke's house. He barely noticed when Tenmar knelt down next to him and lifted him into his arms, carrying him to the mouth of the cave.  
  
"Shush... It's alright Naruto-sama. Everything will be OK." Tenmar spared a glance to his siblings, "Go back to sleep, I'll take care of him. We still have an early morning."  
  
Tenmar settled himself back down at the mouth of the cave, cuddling Naruto between his legs in a protective manner with his arms wrapped around him. He noticed for the first time how small and fragile the boy felt in his arms. He sighed. This boy was his father, but he also was not. Maybe when he was older things could be different, but for now... For now he was a young boy that still needed his protection and guidance. This wasn't what he had been hoping for, and part of him felt slight disappointment, but there was also an excitement. How many people got the chance to help raise their own father? And it wasn't like Naruto-sama was completely not father, parts of his personality was exactly like father. Time would help to bring the rest together. Until then he would have to treat him like a mixture of a brother and a father.  
  
Realizing that the boy in question was shivering, Tenmar pulled Naruto a little closer to him, rubbing his arms absently. Looking down he noticed that Naruto's eyes still had a slight glazed over look to them and his face was overly pale. "Your hair..." Naruto's voice escaped in scarcely a whisper.  
  
"Hum?" Tenmar looked down questioningly at Naruto. "What about my hair?"  
  
"It's down. It looks nice. Almost as long as your mother's hair, I think." Naruto continued in his still small voice.  
  
"Ahem, well..." The tall blonde blushed slightly. "I remembered as a child how you used to play with Mother's hair, and how beautiful it looked when she was walking just right in the sun, and..." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just could never bring myself to cut it." He noticed the wind was blowing it to tickle gently against Naruto. "Is it bothering you?"  
  
The small blonde shook his head, grabbing a small handful of the golden locks and absently braiding it. "Illia used to sit this way with..." He trailed off momentarily, then shook his head, unwilling to continue.  
  
"It's OK, Naruto-sama. You don't have to push yourself. I didn't realize how hard it would be for you. To be honest, Ganten came up with the technique Mina used to break the seal, and we didn't have anyone to test it on so we weren't sure what to expect. To be so young and have to deal with all these memories must be very hard. I apologize sincerely. If it weren't a dire emergency we would never have done this, not just for ourselves, but for your own safety it was necessary. That is why, from this point onward, we feel that you should live with us, if your village is unwilling to accept us then out here. If you would at least please consider our request, Naruto-sama." Tenmar looked down to the boy in his arms and noticed that he had fallen asleep, Tenmar's hair still clasped gently in his hands. "Sleep well, Naruto-sama."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakashi sighed as they once again circled around the forest. There were clues to say they hadn't gotten far, but actually FINDING the place they took Naruto to was proving to be impossible. To add to his annoyance, Sasuke was trailing them from a discreet distance. If there was going to be fighting, having Sasuke, who was still recovering, tag along would only prove to be a burden. The faint sound of a scream to their east brought an abrupt end to Kakashi's thoughts.  
  
Iruka glanced up sharply as well, "That sounded like Naruto!" He moved slightly ahead in that direction, and then stopped, reminding himself to wait for Kakashi's order.  
  
Kakashi sighed again, then looking back he called, "Sasuke! I know you're back there, come on out." Sasuke stepped out, eyes filled with defiance, he crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi. "I'm not happy that you're here, but..." Kakashi shrugged. "Since you are, it can't be helped. One of us will be the decoy, going out and showing our existence to them, the others will hide until they are called for, do you both understand?"  
  
Iruka and Sasuke both nodded, and Iruka opened his mouth, Kakashi shook his head. "I know you're going to ask to be the decoy, but I can't allow that. I will be the decoy. I'm best suited to handle myself if they decide to attack. We believe we are dealing with four of them, but there may be more, so be careful. Our goal is to retrieve Naruto, if it can be done peacefully than all that much better, got it?" The two nodded. "Alright, well, when we get close I want you to separate from me, one to the eastern side and the other to the western. Try to stay down wind, they are familiar with both your scents and they may be able to pick up your presence with that." Again he got two nods in return. "Alright then, let's go."  
  
The closer they got to the source of the sound the more apprehensive Sasuke felt. From what he saw, at least the three men were nothing to take lightly. He had no doubt that if they had wanted to take out either him or Naruto they would have stood a good chance of being able to do it, especially if they worked together. He was torn between wanting Naruto back and wanting to seriously test his strength against one of them.  
  
They reached a certain point and Kakashi motioned to them to find a place to hide. Sasuke looked up in surprise, this spot looked like nothing special to him, what could Kakashi see that he couldn't? He moved forwards slowly, taking the route to the east, as Iruka was already a good deal further out on the western side. He moved closer to the direction that Kakashi was moving, trying to get a glance of the place, and was hit with shock. Behind a set of large trees was a tall rock, leaning against the tall rock was the man from before, staring strait at the approaching Kakashi, in his arms lay a sleeping Naruto.  
  
"Ah, good morning." Kakashi intoned, curving his visible eye in a dangerous looking smile. Tenmar simply glared back at the silver haired man.  
  
It was really quite an amazing sight. The man, Tenmar if Sasuke remembered his name correctly, was sitting there, hair flowing freely with the wind, chest bare, revealing his muscular upper body, his face covered with an almost possessive glare, arms encircling an angelic-looking sleeping Naruto, who was curved perfectly between the mans legs. A venomous anger rose quickly in Sasuke as he stared at the scene. That man, with his hands all over Naruto! Reacting without thinking, Sasuke moved angrily forward, a snarl on his lips. He managed to stop himself when Kakashi sent a quick glare in his direction.  
  
Tenmar glanced amusedly towards Sasuke's hidden location then turned back to Kakashi. "I assume you're here to take Naruto-sama back?" He smiled down at the blonde in his arms. "Naruto-sama..." He shook him gently, "You're friends are here."  
  
Naruto's head moved slowly up from Tenmar's chest, blinking his eyes sleepily, "Sasuke?" He asked, and then his eyes focused on Kakashi. He jumped to his feet, suddenly full of energy. "Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?"  
  
Kakashi's dark demeanor fell away as the boy jumped excitedly around, smiling. "Oi, you're such a trouble making kid!" He said voice full of good natured humor. "Iruka, Sasuke and I have been tracking your sorry butt all over this forest."  
  
"Hey!" Uzu grunted, emerging from the cave in only his pants. "There are kids here that are TRYING to sleep! And don't you DARE speak that way to Da-"  
  
Ganten walked from the mouth of the cave behind his brother, fully clothed and smacked his brother hard on the head. "Idiot." He glanced evenly at Kakashi before stalking towards the fire  
  
Uzu stood behind the white haired boy, making faces at him, Naruto grinned. "So, where's Iruka-sensei and Sasuke? You said they came, right, right?"  
  
Kakashi sighed, looking towards where Iruka and Sasuke were hidden, gesturing with his head that they should come out. He rolled his eye back towards Naruto and his new 'friends.' Naruto was happily talking to the red head that had yelled at Kakashi for being loud, the white haired boy was poking at the fire he had just set up, growling at anybody that stepped near him, Tenmar was staring wide eyed as Iruka jumped down to stand next to Kakashi and there was a little red haired girl standing at the mouth of the cave, hiding as much behind a rock as she cold while still being able to see what was going on.  
  
Iruka and Sasuke were now standing next to Kakashi, mouths wide open as they watched Naruto talking happily with his captors. Sasuke was the first to recover, stalking up to Naruto, he smacked him hard on the head. "Dobe!"  
  
Naruto turned to glare and the four strangers all fell silent as they turned menacing eyes to the dark haired boy. "Oi! Sasuke! What the hell was that for?"  
  
Sasuke ignored the attention of the others as he stared at Naruto. A long moment passed as they gazed at each other, Sasuke not responding to Naruto's question. Finally Iruka also moved forward. "Naruto! Teme! What were you thinking, making us worry so much?" He knelt down and embraced the boy. "Don't ever disappear like that again, you promise, OK?"  
  
Naruto nodded quietly, looking away slightly. Tenmar cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, it was our fault. We needed to talk to Naruto-sama alone and we didn't give him much of a choice." He blushed slightly.  
  
"'Naruto-sama?'" Iruka repeated, looking from Tenmar to Naruto. "Naruto..." He sighed, "Let's just go home, OK? You can tell me your story on the way." Despite the polite way he worded his request, Iruka's tone was commanding and Naruto's first reaction was to run all the way to Konoha.  
  
"Ano... Naruto-sama, please don't go... Don't leave us behind... again..." Mina had moved from her hiding place and was now standing in the center of the small clearing, reaching a hand out to the blonde boy.  
  
Naruto's body sagged then he grinned up at Iruka and Kakashi as he took the girls hand. "Gomen! I'm not leaving without these people." He gestured to his captors with his thumb.  
  
"Alright!" The red headed man, who suddenly looked almost exactly like Naruto, in posture at least, threw his arms around Naruto's neck. "I knew you'd like us once you got used to us! Except Ganten. But no one likes him!" The red head began laughing boisterously until an unexplainable log flew from no where and smacked him in the face. He shot an angry look at the white haired boy, who was glaring solemnly at the fire.  
  
Kakashi sighed. Was this what the Hokage meant when he said Naruto may want to bring something back with him? He suddenly wished the Hokage didn't spend so much time speaking vaguely... "OK."  
  
Naruto stared at Kakashi. "OK?"  
  
"OK, lets go. Hokage-sama wants to see all of you tonight."  
  
"Really?" Naruto's face was lit up in a hopeful smile. When Kakashi nodded, he jumped into the air, fist raised above him. "Yatta!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The walk back was uneventful in Sasuke's mind. For some reason, Kakashi seemed to be acting a little over possessive of Iruka, who was occasionally chatting with the tall blonde man and smiling. Sasuke didn't pay them much mind; his focus was on Naruto. The way he acted with the people that just recently captured him was... annoying. And that white haired guy that almost hit Sasuke kept sending him really nasty looks. Sasuke glared at him dangerously before looking back to Naruto, who was currently a few steps ahead of him and shifting his attention between the one called Uzu and Iruka. Then he turned slightly, and fixed the full force of his smile on Sasuke. It was like a ray of sunshine, and he felt some of his crankiness fall away. He suddenly realized he was smiling back at the blonde and quickly looked away, scowling.  
  
Naruto laughed slightly, as Sasuke looked away from him. So Sasuke'd missed him, eh? That was unexpected. Nice, definitely nice, but by no means what he expected. A slight pain hit his heart when he realized that he probably wouldn't be living with the dark haired boy anymore. After all, he had to think about the children. Even though they were a lot older than he was and more mature... He shook his head, glancing back at Sasuke once again. His smile faltered as he noticed that Sasuke was locked in a glaring contest with Ganten. Things were not going to be easy, were they?  
  
Ganten walked up to stand next to him. "Hi."  
  
"Hi!" Naruto offered him a huge smile.  
  
Ganten could feel himself smiling in return. His father certainly had a great way with people. It was especially amazing how Mina was so affected. Actually talking to the boy, ASKING to be taken with him, letting him TOUCH her... "Last night, when you woke up screaming, tell me what happened."  
  
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. My mind's kind of fuzzy about it... There was someone talking to me and... They were angry, but they calmed down pretty quick..."  
  
"Did they threaten you?" Ganten remembered having dreams like this up until a few years ago. Gifts sent from their precious Uncle Kentaar. "Was the voice like a mixture of an animal's growling and a man speaking?"  
  
Naruto frowned, and then nodded. "Yeah! Now that you mention it, yeah, and he said he loved me!" He glanced at Ganten. "How'd you know?"  
  
The white haired boy ignored the question, his mind sharpening in on one fact. "He said he loved you?"  
  
"Mumm." Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah. And... There was something important, I KNEW it this morning. Something... about why I needed to stay near you guys... And Sasuke. But the longer it's been the less I can remember... I had a dream like this once before, too, I think." A look of extreme focus crossed his face. "It's... He said I was his older brother! And that I took what he most wanted from him, and he was going to destroy everything that reminded him of that and my most precious thing." Naruto thought for a moment. "Yeah, that was it."  
  
Ganten froze in his steps, and rose his voice, "Tenmar!"  
  
"What?" The tall man asked, a frown creasing his lips. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Naruto-sama, please tell Tenmar what you just told me!"  
  
Naruto glanced from Tenmar to Ganten, and then looked around at everybody else. Everyone had stopped moving and were currently staring at him intently. "Um... It was just a stupid dream."  
  
Sasuke moved closer to the boy, "Like the one you had that one night?"  
  
Naruto didn't even have to ask what night Sasuke was asking about, he nodded. "Yeah. There was some guy talking to me, telling me that he was going to destroy my precious thing, I think. And he wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of HIS precious thing, something like that. It's not a big deal."  
  
Kakashi placed a concerned hand on Naruto's head. "When did these dreams start?"  
  
"Right around when I moved into Sasuke's house. But I really can't remember the first one very well..." He struggled. "Maybe there was a lot of darkness around and... These tall spikes sticking out of the ground! And..." Naruto's face went white, and his voice got small, "And each of you were... hanging on the spikes... And the voice said that he was going to take..." Naruto shook his head, glaring at the ground. "I don't want to talk about it."  
  
"Please, Naruto-sama?" Tenmar pleaded, placing a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. "This is very important! If we know more about these dreams then we might be able to find out something about the one sending them."  
  
"No!" Naruto backed away, feeling like a cornered animal. "I don't want to talk about it, leave me alone!" He jumped a head of the group, down the trail. Kakashi sighed and followed him quickly.  
  
Iruka glanced sharply at Tenmar, "Do you know who's sending Naruto these terrible dreams?"  
  
"Uncle Kentaar..." Came an almost inaudible reply from the least likely of sources. Mina's face had gone white and she was now shaking, but she looked at Iruka. "It was Uncle Kentaar. He wants to kill us, all of us, because we remind him of HER." The last word was said with some degree of disgust, but she continued. "Me most of all. He comes to me every night, every night the same dream and every night he-" She was shaking too hard to continue. Ganten wrapped his sister in a silent hug, allowing her to find escape from the strange stares of Sasuke and Iruka in his shoulder.  
  
Tenmar patted her head lovingly, and looked to Iruka. "This is why we needed to take Naruto-sama away. Why he probably should still stay away from the village. It's only a matter of time before Kentaar decides to make good on his threats. He'll start with those that Naruto-sama loves, but whose existence means the least to him. He'll start with Konoha."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *sighing*  
  
Sakura: *looking concerned* what's wrong now? Did that boy say something to you again???  
  
Psychic King: NO! Nothing like that, but... *holds out the thermometer*  
  
Sakura: *reading out loud* 100.4??? You're running a fever!  
  
Psychic King: *nods* Yeah, I gotta cold while writing this chapter... *sniffing* and no one wants to take care of me!  
  
Ganten: *stalking by, grabs Psychic King's arm* Go on. Get into bed! *sighing* really, you should take care of yourself! I'll bring you some soup. Just go to bed. *pushes Psychic King towards her room*  
  
Psychic King: *tears in eyes* Oh! Ganten! I take back everything! You are my favorite! *sniffing*  
  
Ganten: *glaring* get to bed!  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* He really DOES make a good mother... *shaking head* I was pulling that stuff outta my a-  
  
Ganten: NOW!  
  
Psychic King: Hai! *jumps into bed, pulling the covers up all nice and comfy, smiles at readers* Well, until next time! Please review! I'm gonna take a day of Ganten-mommy pampering... *waves* have a good day!  
  
Sakura: *sighing* Lucky... She gets a handsome guy to wait on her hand and foot...  
  
Uzu: *suddenly appearing* you have NO idea. This is Ganten's chicken soup we're talking about here! There is nothing to compare... I wonder if I put this thermometer just right next to the light bulb maybe I can...  
  
Sakura: That's not a good idea.  
  
Uzu: *annoyed* What? It's just a little dishonest, no harm done. I LIVE for that soup.  
  
Sakura: No, meant because Ganten is standing right behind you with a bowl of boiling chicken soup, and he looks kinda pissed.  
  
Uzu: *jumps and turns around to see Ganten* eto... Ganten, I can explain! I was only joking, really! You wouldn't hurt your own brother would you? *turns and runs away*  
  
Ganten: *shakes head and walks into Psychic King's room* Here it is, warm chicken soup.  
  
Psychic King: *hearing her voice from off screen* Thank you! My hero! Could you maybe... feed it to me?  
  
Ganten: WHAT??? 


	10. Embrace of Konoha

Psychic King: *Standing in a corner, blanket wrapped around shoulders, blowing nose* I'b still sick.  
  
Sakura: *walking by, noticing Psychic King* Psychic King-sama! WHAT are you doing out of bed? I told you no writing until you're feeling better!  
  
Psychic King: *Backing away, coughing desperately* I don't wanna be in bed any more!  
  
Sakura: *grabbing hold of Psychic King's collar* Oh no you don't, young lady!  
  
Psychic King: *struggling and coughing* I'b not young! I'b older than you! A lod older!  
  
Sakura: Ganten! She's trying to escape!  
  
Ganten: *walking up, holding a hand on the still struggling Psychic King's forehead* Hum... It should be OK of she doesn't over exert herself.  
  
Psychic King: *Glares triumphantly at Sakura for a moment then falls into a fight of coughing* I'b good! I'b good. *looking at the readers, eyes and nose running* Anybay... Blease enjoy this chabter. *waddling off screen* I'b gonna go lay down...  
  
Sakura: *shaking head and glaring at Ganten* HOW could you let her write another chapter- I mean, get out of bed? She's obviously not well. She didn't even remember to tell the readers that she finally bought the rights to the series and is going to have Sasuke and I get married next episode!  
  
Sasuke: *suddenly appearing, growling at Sakura* She didn't and I wouldn't.  
  
Sakura: *pouting* Fine! So she DOESN'T own Naruto or any of us! And if she did she would never let me marry you, but a girl can dream, right?  
  
Naruto: *walks on screen from Psychic King's bed room* Yeah, the old hag just wanted me to come out here and apologize to the readers for the lack of fighting in this chapter, but she hopes that a good dose of Shonen-ai will make up for it. *shrugs, walking up to Sasuke* Wonder what she meant?  
  
Sasuke: Don't know, I haven't read the chapter yet.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter10  
  
Naruto paced suspiciously in front of the Hokage's office as he waited for Tenmar to emerge. As soon as they returned to Konoha a group of Ninja that Naruto didn't even recognize quickly and quietly escorted them to the Hokage's waiting room. Normally when Naruto was taken there for trouble making he would be forced to wait under stiff guard for at least an hour, but this time they were escorted right into the waiting room, and those waiting were told to leave. Naruto could feel cold glares on his back and short whispers of, "Looks who's causing trouble AGAIN." And, "It figures. It's HIM."  
  
Soon after the room was cleared Kakashi and Iruka were called in, followed by Sasuke. Each went in and left without a word, although Sasuke did send a long glare Naruto's way before stalking out of the room. Following that Tenmar was called in and now Naruto was left alone in the room with Ganten, Uzu and Mina.  
  
"What's taking SO LONG?" Uzu whined, voicing Naruto's own thoughts. He jumped up from his seat again, looking out the window before glancing back at Naruto. "I was going to wait until later to say anything, but... What's with these people? Are they all insolent or just ignorant?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Naruto turned inquisitive eyes to the tall young man.  
  
"The way they keep looking at you and the things they SAY!" Uzu let out a low whistle. "Man, it took all I had not to teach a few of them manners. Bastards." He spit on the carpeted floor of the office.  
  
Naruto shrugged, folding his arms behind his head. "Nah, they ain't so bad once you get to know them. Most of 'em anyway. They just don't know any better. That's why one day I'm gonna FORCE 'em to pay attention to me and recognize my strength." He smiled in his innocent way.  
  
Uzu grinned back, Naruto's excitement seeping into him. "That's awesome! I want to help!" The two identically placed their hands on their hips and began laughing.  
  
"Annoying!" Ganten's sharp voice snapped over the laughing.  
  
Naruto stopped cold, feeling slightly ashamed, but Uzu stuck out his tong, throwing his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "You're just jealous because Da- Naruto-sama and I are better than you."  
  
"Naruto-sama isn't the problem." Ganten said through clenched teeth, jumping to his feet.  
  
"Yeah? You got a problem with me LITTLE brother?" Uzu's hand dropped from Naruto's shoulders, body falling into a fighting stance.  
  
"And if I do?" Ganten started circling Uzu slowly, eyes narrowed. "Are you hiding behind Naruto-sama, BIG brother? Are you that scared of what I can do to you?"  
  
For a moment Naruto thought that the two were going to actually kill each other right there in the Hokage's waiting room. The moment passed quickly as Uzu's face broke into a huge, playful smile and Naruto saw for the first time Ganten's face break into a relaxed smile as well. "Hum?" Naruto looked from one to the other, confused. "What was THAT? Aren't you two going to kill each other now?"  
  
Even Mina was looking blankly back at Naruto. "Kill each other?" Ganten repeated, slightly confused. "WHY would we seriously want to hurt each other? We're all we have; neither of us could destroy that by raising a hand against the other in anger. I mean, we were just playing. It was something YOU taught us; never take one another for granted, never raise your hand in anger against one another. When we get really mad at one another we usually have to have a family meeting, headed by Tenmar, who somehow NEVER gets angry." Ganten sighed, Naruto could hear a bit of annoyance creeping into his voice. "The last time Uzu hit me we were... Around 10."  
  
Uzu laughed. "Yeah, you were such a little brat, you deserved all those beatings I gave you!"  
  
A sudden rush of appreciation for Tenmar welled over Naruto. Not only had he started raising three siblings when he was eight all by himself, but he had done a good job of it, too.  
  
The door to the Hokage's office opened, the Hokage and Tenmar walked out, smiling and talking. The Hokage turned to Naruto. "Naruto." Tenmar gave the boy an encouraging smile as Naruto walked past him and into the Hokage's office. He could hear Uzu raising his voice in a question as the door clicked shut.  
  
Naruto looked around the Hokage's office in surprise. Normally when he spoke to the Hokage there were various Ninja and scribes running around doing various things. This was perhaps the first time that he was truly alone with the man. He grinned up at the man, folding his hands behind his head. "What's up?"  
  
The old man shook his head. "Naruto... Even when you're not trying you cause a lot of problems..." He situated himself behind his desk, folding his hands in front of his mouth. "I have heard your story four or five times since you disappeared from various sources, and I do not need to hear it again. I do know that it appears that this town has done a grave injustice to both you and your... children. I have already spoken to Tenmar about that, now, as for you... I'm afraid all I have to offer you is the heartfelt apologies of an old man. The people's opinions are not bond to change even when the truth reaches them. Although I love these people I HAVE lived among them long enough to know of their stubbornness."  
  
Naruto's smile grew a bit as the Hokage paused and he waved his hands dismissingly. "I've spent my whole life making them recognize me. I don't even want them to know the truth; it'd take some of the challenge away. Anyway, I can only imagine having to explain myself to everyone a millions times over." He rolled his eyes, but his attitude remained light and good natured.  
  
"Are you certain?"  
  
The blonde head nodded eagerly. "Unless Tenmar and the others insist on everyone knowing."  
  
The Hokage shook his head in reply, small smirk forming on his lips. "No, he said something... similar. I guess you two really do think alike." His face straitened. "I have also been informed that there is someone most likely coming after you."  
  
Naruto's face also sobered. "Yeah. That's possible. Kentaar... Just let me say good bye to Sakura-chan and the other-"  
  
"That won't be necessary." The Hokage cut in, holding up a hand. "Even if some of the town wouldn't agree with me, you ARE a valuable citizen of this town and we do NOT throw our citizens out to the wolves, so to speak. Go back to the Uchiha mansion; some temporary arrangements have been made for Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina with more permanent arrangements to be made when this whole mess is sorted out between you and your brother."  
  
"But what-" Naruto started only to be cut off again.  
  
"I'll let them explain what their roles will be in the community their selves. I've had a long night and am eager for some rest, so if that's all?" The Hokage had stopped looking at Naruto before he began speaking, and was shuffling some papers around his desk, an air of finality hung in the air.  
  
All the blonde could think of doing in reply was giving the Hokage a quick hug before dashing out of the room, "Thank you!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The first place he could think to go was Sasuke's house; he wanted to know what the Hokage said to the other boy, and with any luck that would be where Tenmar and the others went to find him. He rushed down his favorite places in town, grinning at people he knew as he passed by. Never before had he felt so at home rushing through the streets.  
  
"Oi! Naruto, slow down!"  
  
The voice reached the blonde's ears and he skidded to a halt. "Shikamaru!"  
  
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Geeze, you don't have to yell." He fell into pace next to Naruto as the blonde continued on his bounding way towards Sasuke's house. "I heard that some sort of crap happened after the party at Sasuke's house."  
  
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but it's all taken care of now." Suddenly the party felt like a different lifetime ago.  
  
This seemed like enough of an answer for Shikamaru, who nodded then continued on, "So, are you guys participating?"  
  
"In what?"  
  
"In what?" Shikamaru mimicked. "In the Chuunin exam. Really! Talking to you is a waste of my time, isn't it? I heard that all of us rookies were recommended, so I assume that you and Sasuke are going to enter it, right?"  
  
For a moment Naruto completely stopped walking, he stood in the middle of the street in stunned silence, then he turned to Shikamaru with a sheepish grin. "I forgot all about that!"  
  
The spiky haired by just shook his head in stunned silence. "What ever happened must have been pretty amazing to make YOU forget about the exams."  
  
The two rounded the corner, starting the walk down Sasuke's walkway wrapped in conversation about the upcoming exam. "Oi! Sasuke, I'm home!" The blonde called as he walked into the kitchen entrance of the humongous house.  
  
"Welcome home Naruto-sama!" Tenmar called, from behind a large pot on the stove.  
  
"Tenmar?" An incredulous tone crept into Naruto's voice. "What are YOU doing here?"  
  
"As Sasuke-kun insisted when we arrived, I'm 'making myself useful.'" Tenmar's body appeared from around the pot. "Not that I cooked this! I'm just keeping my eye on it as Sasuke-kun requested. I don't believe I've met your friend."  
  
"Uh, yeah! Shikamaru, this is Tenmar he's my..." Naruto trailed off.  
  
"Relative. My siblings and I just moved to Konoha and Naruto-kun is the only family we have, so Sasuke-kun was gracious enough to allow us to stay here with Naruto-sama for the time being." Tenmar reached a hand out.  
  
Accepting the hand Shikamaru replied, "It's nice to meet yo-" His words were drowned out by a long string of cursing from outside.  
  
"Uzu!" Tenmar barked, face going from pleasant to demonic in one second flat. "WHAT is your problem? I'm talking to Naruto-sama!"  
  
"Yay!" Uzu bound into the house, covered from head to toe in dirt and grime. "Naruto-sama's home! How was talking to the old man?" He glanced at Shikamaru. "Oh! We have a guest!" He grinned and leaned down so they were eye level. "Hey, I'm Uzu."  
  
"Shikamaru." The spiky haired boy backed away a little. It would be annoying if this guy got his clothes dirty and he had to listen to his mother bitching.  
  
"Ignore him, he's a moron." A cold collected voice spoke from behind the brunette. Shikamaru turned to stare at yet another strange boy with short white hair. "I'm Ganten." He pointed to the corner where a red head could ALMOST be seen. "That's Mina." Ganten turned to Tenmar. "Sasuke wants to know if the stew started to boil and if Naruto-sama was back."  
  
Uzu's face went from open and happy to dark and angry in a flash. "That kid's got a real chip on his shoulder, you know? As soon as we arrived he showed us our rooms and locked himself up in his bed room." He sighed in disgust and stomped past Shikamaru and Naruto. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to wash myself before dinner. I'd hate to anger the great lord Sasuke." Sarcasm dripped like venom from his voice.  
  
Tenmar took a moment to smile at his brother and then panic crossed his features. "Shit! The stew!" He ran back to the large pot and began quickly stirring it, frown deepening he began to mutter incoherently to himself as he added a little more water.  
  
"Well, that's my family!" Naruto said happily to Shikamaru. "Hey! Why don't you stay for dinner? I gotta go see what stick crawled up Sasuke's a-" But he was already gone up the stairs and the remainder of his words were not heard.  
  
Shikamaru sent a bored glance around the room and sighed. The white haired boy was glaring at something outside, the tall blonde man was still cursing and adding even MORE water to the stew mixture and the red headed girl was peeking at him from around a corner. When he looked at her she gave off a strange 'eep' noise and disappeared completely from view. Somehow Naruto had abandoned him with a group of completely abnormal people.  
  
The tall red haired man emerged from presumably the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. In one hand sat his filthy clothing. "Oi! Pretty boy? Don't suppose you know where they keep their dirty clothing?"  
  
Shikamaru turned uninterested eyes to the strange man and felt an unconscious blush rise at his undressed state. It was going to be a long dinner.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto called happily as he bound down the hallway to the dark boy's room. "I'm home!" He threw the door open, preparing to meet with a moody Sasuke, but the room was empty. "Huh. That's weird." He shrugged, feeling a slight pain of disappointment. Part of him was very eager to see Sasuke again. He REALLY wanted to know what the Hokage said to him, too.  
  
The door to his bedroom sprang open as Naruto started back down the stairs. A blue arm reached out and grabbed Naruto gruffly by the collar, dragging him into the dark room and pushing him down onto the bed. Then Sasuke was over him pulling up his shirt, hands gently tracing nonexistent lines on his stomach. Naruto felt a deep blush cover his face. He allowed himself to enjoy the touch monetarily before pushing the boy away. "What the hell's your problem, Sasuke-Bastard?"  
  
"I want to hear it from your own mouth." The boy's usually unemotional face was lined with a mixture of worry, anger and something Naruto couldn't identify. "Tell me what you are! Tell me the truth!" The words came out as something of a mix between a hiss and a scream, his hands grabbing Naruto's arm and squeezing harshly.  
  
A deep empty feeling started welling up in the blonde's chest. They were getting so close before and now... It was like a wall was being raised between them and he was sure the truth would only make that wall even more impassable, but Sasuke would find out eventually anyway, on way or another. "I am Uzumaki Naruto. Twelve year old Ninja of Konoha; father of Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina; husband of the deceased Haruno Illia; Brother of Tagen, Aki and Kentaar; half-fox." He sighed, not daring to look at Sasuke as the words poured from his mouth. "That is what the inner me, the mirror of my true self reflected back to me when I asked that question. I didn't destroy the village twelve years ago, though! I would do anything to protect Konoha, even then!" He added the last part venomously.  
  
Sasuke stood for a moment staring at the boy. He was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to run away. He settled instead for staring deeply at the blonde, a strange feeling developing in him. "So you... you really ARE the fox... And they are really your children."  
  
Naruto nodded, empty feeling growing. He would have to tell Sasuke the whole truth, and the sooner the better. "There is one more thing." He fidgeted with the corner of the blanket he was sitting on, not looking up at the other boy. "My younger brother, Kentaar... He was really angry when I married Illia. He wanted her for himself, you see. And well... He..." Naruto could feel his face contort in anger as he thought about Kentaar, but he forced himself to continue on, still refusing to look up. In barely a whisper he continued, "He killed her. He attacked the village disguised as me, when I came to fight him I was sealed instead of him. He thought I was dead, but now... Now he knows I'm alive. He's been haunting my dreams, and he wants to destroy everything I care about. He knows everything about me, including what I- WHO I care the most about." Naruto's blue eyes forced themselves up to stare into the dark depths of Sasuke's. "You're not safe. If I thought leaving would help, I would, but either way he wants his revenge and..." He trailed off, loosing himself in the darkness for a moment. Shaking his head, he returned his gaze to the blanket, finishing lamely. "And I'd feel better if I could be nearby to keep my eyes on you and Sakura and everyone."  
  
Sasuke sat for a moment, watching Naruto toy with the corner of the blanket. For a terrifying moment he thought Naruto was going to declare his undying love for him. Why did he feel that slight pain of disappointment when Naruto mentioned Sakura? Why did he hate it when eyes softened when he said 'Illia?' Why was he so upset about having the four newcomers stay at his place? It certainty wasn't because he lacked the room, and it couldn't be because he craved solitude or he would have asked the Hokage to find a new place for them AND Naruto. And WHY was this person before him the only person that made him feel anything besides anger, pain or annoyance?  
  
Pushing the questions aside, he placed a smirk on his face. "Dobe."  
  
Naruto looked up, the simple word causing a feeling far stronger than simple joy, "Don't call me dobe, bastard!"  
  
Ignoring the boy Sasuke continued, "It'd take more than some stupid family member of yours to kill me." He placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, forcing the blonde to look at him.  
  
Feeling a smile form on his lips Naruto replied, "It better, because you can't die until you admit that I'm stronger than you, bastard."  
  
"Then I guess I'm never going to die, dobe."  
  
As the banter passed between the two they unconsciously moved closer together, and now Naruto noticed in surprise that his face was amazingly close to Sasuke's. The dark haired boy really was beautiful when he smiled, Naruto realized, chewing on his lower lip. He raised his hand slightly to Sasuke's face, gently touching the pale cheek.  
  
Sasuke's hand, which had been resting on Naruto's shoulder, moved up slightly, brushing the nape of the blonde's neck. His hair was so soft, so close. It was like he was mesmerized. He moved closer, all thought fleeing from his mind as the blonde moved in slightly as well. Now Sasuke could feel Naruto's breath gently mixing with his own, their faces were barely an inch apart and they were getting closer, closer...  
  
"Did I come at a bad time?" A third voice sounded from the doorway, causing both boys to jump away from each other in surprise.  
  
"Uzu!" Naruto called out, trying to make his voice sound cheerful. "What are you- I mean, we were just-"  
  
"Ah..." Uzu cut his young father off with a wave, shaking his head. "I just came to tell you that there's a Mina look alike here to see you and Tenmar says if we don't eat soon the stew won't be any good." Winking at both boys he added, "Not that it'll be any good anyway, Tenmar got it into his head to 'improve' upon it, and he's... Well, let's just say that his imagination gets pretty crazy when it comes to spicing up food. AND Ganten seems to have stolen your pretty friend, Shikamaru, and is forcing him to play go with him." The tall red head turned his back on both boys, waving his hand as he walked away. "Anyway, come down when you're done!"  
  
Naruto and Sasuke were left staring dumbly at each other. Remember what they were about to do they both glanced away, blushing brightly. "Anyway, I'll head down now and greet Sakura-chan! Please don't tell her anything about who everyone is and stuff, OK? I don't want everyone to know..." Naruto dashed out of the room, leaving a befuddled Sasuke alone.  
  
What... Was he just about to KISS Naruto? Sasuke raised a hand to his lips, feeling a silly grin forming on them. He quickly wiped the smile away, but he couldn't erase the light feeling in his heart. This was going to be a problem, wasn't it?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *coughing and waving at readers*  
  
Naruto: *Translating* What she's trying to say is, was that enough shonen- ai for you?  
  
Sasuke: *Grabbing Psychic King and shaking* WHY? WHY'D that IDIOT have to come in right then??????????  
  
Psychic King: *coughing some more, waving Sasuke off*  
  
Naruto: *Translating* She says we're still young, and we'll have plenty of time to make out later.  
  
Psychic King: *coughing some more*  
  
Naruto: *Translating* And anyway, if we kiss before we tell each other that we have feelings for each other we may start doing rash things.  
  
Psychic King: *cough COUGH*  
  
Naruto: *STILL Translating* Like you marrying Sakura.  
  
Sasuke: *Looking away* I would NOT!  
  
Uzu: *cracking knuckles* WHAT did you just call me, little lord Sasuke? *takes menacing steps forward*  
  
Naruto: *jumping between them* Now, now, Uzu... You know the old Hag's rule about not killing each other!  
  
Psychic King: *Coughing and waving*  
  
Naruto: *Stepping aside, and sighing, Translating* She said it's OK as long as you don't hurt him too much. And not in the face!  
  
Sasuke: *glares at Psychic King, then takes off*  
  
Uzu: *Jumps after Sasuke, grinning* No problem, not in the face, got it.  
  
Sakura: *from off screen* AAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  
  
Psychic King: *wobbles quickly off stage, coughing quietly and waving*  
  
Naruto: *nods*  
  
Sakura: *Grabbing Naruto by the collar* WHERE IS SHE???  
  
Naruto: *wiggling out of her grasp, Translating* She said her cold took a sudden turn for the worse and she needed to take a nap. She's not to be disturbed.  
  
Psychic King: *from off stage, coughing*  
  
Naruto: *Translating* BUT, if you or any of her readers have any adoration or comments or even problems you can e-mail them to her at Psychic_King@hotmail.com OR leave her a review! She REALLY likes getting reviews. She thinks if she get lots of reviews she'll get better faster.  
  
Sakura: *stomps away* Oh, I've got an e-mail for HER then...  
  
Tenmar: *walking up to Naruto* Is Psychic King-sama feeling better? I wanted to ask her when I'm going to get a nice REALATIONSHIP developing moment with Iruka-san... *sighs, stars in eyes*  
  
Naruto: Um... Well, she's not feeling well, and she doesn't want to be interrupted, but I REALLY don't think that she's gonna let you get Iruka- sensei. I mean... She REALLY likes Kakashi.  
  
Tenmar: *pondering* But if she LIKES him then why doesn't she write herself into the story and have him marry her?  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* don't ask me how her sick mind works!  
  
Psychic King: *coughing from off stage*  
  
Naruto: *turning slightly green* GROSS! Don't tell me about things like that, you sick-o voyeur!  
  
Tenmar: *Backing away slightly* So she's like THAT... *walks away muttering* I can work with that... I just gotta appeal to her optically...  
  
Naruto*stumbles off screen, blushing and muttering about perverts*  
  
Psychic King: *sneaking on stage, glancing back and forth making sure no one notices, talking to the readers* Anyway, sorry that the action was kept out, but I'm not in a condition to think about fighting right now! My cold isn't as bad as I let THEM think (I'm addicted to Ganten's chicken soup...), but I'm still suffering, sadly... Anyway, please review and let me know what you all think! Next chapter hopefully will come before the end of the weekend, but may not be until more like Tuesday. Please review! *looking around, creeps back into her room*  
  
Ganten: *stalking on stage with a steamy bowl of soup and tosses it into Psychic King's room* Here. *stalks away* 


	11. Embrace of Sasuke

Psychic King: *twirling around in a circle* Whee!!!!  
  
Sakura: *sighing sadly* It's no fair. She actually got better.  
  
Naruto: *smiling* Yeah! Isn't it great?  
  
Tenmar: *smiling* Sure is!  
  
Sakura: *Glaring at them* What are YOU both so happy about?  
  
Tenmar: *blushing* Well, in her reviews someone suggested that I get some action with Iruka...  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* and you think she's actually going to do it?  
  
Tenmar: *shrugging* Maybe. It's worth asking, right?  
  
Psychic King: *looking at Tenmar's hopeful face* Uh, yeah... Well, sorry to say, not THIS chapter. But hey, sure, maybe next chapter. I mean, I've been meaning to make Iruka a more three dimensional character, anyway. Right now he just seems to follow Kakashi around... And Kakashi seems to follow him around, so...  
  
Tenmar: *hopeful smile growing*  
  
Psychic King: So, maybe.  
  
Kakashi: *suddenly appearing, glaring at Psychic King* I forbid it!  
  
Psychic King: *smiling and nodding, not really paying attention* Hai, hai. Whatever you say, Kakashi. *glancing at Naruto* But you ARE getting some action this chapter.  
  
Naruto: *jumping into the air, fist raised* Hell, YEAH! *pauses, pondering* Wait, what kind of action?  
  
Psychic King: *ignoring the question, looking to readers* Well, the long awaited day has arrived... I REALLY hope you like this chapter; I wrote it for all of you that review, who were so AWESOME last chapter. I usually think if I get about 8 reviews for a chapter it went OK, if I get less than 8 something is wrong with the chapter and if I get more, great. Well, last chapter I about DOUBLE my happy number of eight! You guys are WONDERFUL! MAGNIFICENT! I love you ALL! So, anyway, I am now giving you what I know you have been waiting ten chapters for. *grin* But I will warn you, there is a pretty dark scene near-  
  
Sakura: *sighing in disgust* They're ABOUT to read it, do you REALLY need to tell them? *looking at readers* I think what she's trying to say is, she don't own Naruto or any of us, so her little stories ARE NOT real. Sasuke would NEVER touch that-  
  
Psychic King: *ties a gag around Sakura's mouth* Yeah, whatever. Just enjoy the chapter everyone!!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Sasuke took a little longer than he had intended to walk to the dinning room, where a large jumbled mess greeted his eyes. The table was covered with various puzzle games. Ganten seemed to be trying to convince Shikamaru to try a new game while Uzu seemed to be trying to distract the boy. "Ganten..." Uzu was saying, rolling his eyes. "Just because he beat you does NOT mean that you should take it as a personal injury." Glancing up, he smile. "Oi! If it isn't Sasuke-sama!" Uzu jumped from the table, which he had been seated on. He did a mock bow. "Tenmar says that dinner may be unfixable, but requests your supervision in the kitchen as soon as you were done 'composing' yourself."  
  
Sasuke face went from blank to a dark scowl as he grabbed the red head by the neck and dragged him out of the room and into the kitchen. "Sasuke-kun! I think the dinner may be un-savable!" Tenmar said glancing up as the door swung open.  
  
Ganten shook his head at his brother, giving him a nonverbal warning about talking to Sasuke right now.  
  
"Then again, maybe I can figure it out on my own..." Tenmar popped his head back behind the large pot.  
  
"Get over here." Sasuke snarled, tossing Uzu into a chair at the kitchen table.  
  
Uzu allowed himself to be tossed good naturedly, trying hard to wipe the grin off his face.  
  
Sasuke glared at him, trying to be intimidating, he placed his hands on either side of Uzu, leaning in close. "What did you tell them?"  
  
Tenmar walked innocently around the large stove to stand next to Sasuke. "He really didn't say mu-"  
  
A glare was shot quickly at Tenmar before Sasuke returned it to Uzu. "I asked him. WHAT did you tell them?"  
  
Putting a hand over his mouth to hide his developing smile Uzu replied, "I only told Tenmar about the... position I found you and Daddy in."  
  
Tenmar nodded as Sasuke backed away, face blank. "I think I deserved to know. After all, Naruto-sama is only a child and if you're gonna hurt him, as his oldest son, I think YOU deserve to know that I'll kill you."  
  
Uzu nodded, face strait, eyes suddenly serious. "Yeah. You may be strong, but if you mess with Daddy I swear there will be no place for you to hide."  
  
"I wasn't messing with anyone!" Sasuke replied, voice rising louder than he intended it to.  
  
Naruto poked his head into the kitchen, followed by Sakura. "Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, stepping into the room.  
  
"Yeah, Sasuke. You look like you just swallowed mud." Naruto walked in behind her, folding his arms behind his head and grinning.  
  
"Sakura-chan, perhaps you should wait in the living room..." Tenmar shot the girl a strained smile, placing his hand on her shoulder and directing her tactfully out of the room. The door closed with a decisive click, and the rooms four occupants stood and stared at one another. Tenmar noticed with curiosity that Naruto and Sasuke both spent most of their time looking AWAY from each other, each glancing at the other and then looking quickly at something else. He sighed; it was obvious that HE was going to have to get the ball rolling. "So, how long has this been going on?"  
  
"Nothing's going on!" Sasuke replied as the same time Naruto said, "Since just now." The two looked at each other, faces red. They looked away, and started speaking again.  
  
"I mean... It's not any of your-" Sasuke began again, as Naruto said, "We weren't doing any-" Again both boys trailed off and stared once again at each other.  
  
"Alright..." Tenmar sighed, looking at the ceiling. There was a huge possibility that he was going to regret this later, but... Placing a hand on both boys' shoulders he ushered them out the kitchen door to the back yard. "Well, dinner is ruined, and I'm eager to have Uzu try this ramen thing Naruto-sama keeps talking about, anyway. Why don't the two of you go pick some up for all of us? My treat, here's some cash." He sighed as he leaned against the closed kitchen door, looking at an irate looking Uzu. "What?"  
  
"Why'd you do that?" Uzu asked accusingly, leaning against the table. "You practically FORCED him into that guy's arms!"  
  
The tall blonde looked sideways at his brother, placing a hand against his face. "I don't know. It was obvious that they weren't ready to answer our questions yet, though. Hell, they haven't even asked EACH OTHER those questions yet. It isn't fair to tear them apart just because WE don't like it. I'm not even sure that I don't like it, it's just not..."  
  
"What you expected?" Uzu finished, nodding, "Well... It doesn't matter. That guy's got too much of his head up his ass to notice a great guy like Daddy, anyway."  
  
Tenmar shot his brother a rueful look. "I wish I were as certain as you that nothing was going to happen. Something about the way they were looking at each other tells me we're going to have two hormonal young boys on our hands."  
  
"You're wrong," Uzu replied with a smile, opening the door to the dinning room, "I'd bet on it!"  
  
Tenmar shook his head and smiled as he heard his brother exclaim, "Oh, God, not ANOTHER game... Fine, but this time I'm pla-" The door closing cut off the remainder of his words, but it was enough for Tenmar to know to head into the living room instead of following Uzu.  
  
He found Sakura and Mina sitting on the couch, actually talking quietly to each other. Stepping into the room he shrugged, miracles DID happen. Well, it was not as if Sakura was a complete stranger, anyway. According to Naruto-sama, this girl was their mother's brother's daughter; that made her their cousin. Or maybe Mina was just coming out of her shell.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto glanced at Sasuke as they walked side by side to the ramen place. Part of him realized that this was not a two person job and that he should send Sasuke back to his house and go get the ramen himself, the OTHER, more mature part of him realized what Tenmar was doing, sending them off together and wanted very much to know what would come from this walk together. "So Sasuke... Things were pretty weird back at the house, huh? What were they talking about, anyway?" He grinned, hopping to relieve some of the tension.  
  
Sasuke glanced at the blonde next to him and grunted.  
  
"I mean... What did they think, we were gonna jump on each other or something? I mean, YOU would never- WE would never-" For the second time that day Sasuke was grabbing his arm roughly, pushing him backward, off the road, behind a bush, onto his back. Naruto stared at the other boy for a moment, trying to calm his pounding heart. "What'd you do THAT fo-" And then Sasuke's mouth was covering his own, planting a hot, desperate kiss on the blonde. Naruto's eyes closed, wrapping his free hand around Sasuke's waist, pulling the dark haired boy closer.  
  
Sasuke's head was swimming, his body responding before his mind had quite caught up; the only thing he knew for certain was that he was in control. When Naruto's hand found the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up, allowing his hand to caress the soft skin on Sasuke's back, even that thought disappeared. He pulled away, panting for breath. "Naruto..."  
  
Blue eyes slowly opened and for once the blonde could not think of a thing to say. Hand still gently stroking Sasuke's back, he raised his head slowly to stare at the boy lying on top of him. Opening and closing his mouth soundlessly he tried desperately to say something, ANYTHING.  
  
Sasuke smirked, leaning in again and capturing Naruto's lips in another deep, passionate kiss. Releasing Naruto's captured hand he wrapped his arms around the boy in a rough embrace. Rising from the kiss, but not pulling away, Sasuke kissed, licked, and bit his way to Naruto's ear, then down his neck.  
  
Panting softly, Naruto finally managed to find his voice, "Sa- Sasuke..."  
  
"Unh..." Sasuke grunted as Naruto's finger nails dragged across his back. He brought his lips back to the blonde's one last time before pulling completely away and sitting up. He racked a hand through his dark locks, trying desperately to clear his head. Breathing heavy, he glanced sideways at the blonde.  
  
Naruto was not in a much better state than Sasuke, his heart was pounding a mile a minute and his breath was coming out in short gasps. "Wow." He looked at Sasuke and shook his head, sprawling out on the grass, "wow."  
  
"You're still a dobe." Sasuke snorted, looking down as he straitened his shirt.  
  
"Yeah? Well, you're a bastard." Naruto replied airily, twirling a blade of grass around his fingers. He glanced over to see Sasuke smirking at him. "What?"  
  
"Nothing." Sasuke replied, standing. He reached a hand down and yanked Naruto to his feet. For a moment the blonde was intoxicatingly close, but with some feelings of disappointment he moved away.  
  
"We should get the ramen and get back before they start to wonder what we were doing." Naruto grinned, and Sasuke noticed that his lips were slightly swollen and a brighter pink than normal. He turned away from the blonde, forcing himself to look anywhere else. 'WHY did I do that?' was the only thing running through his mind as he turned and walked back to the road.  
  
Naruto's thoughts must have been mirroring his own because after a few moments the blonde said quietly, "Sasuke... NOT that I'm complaining, but why?"  
  
"Because." He replied shortly, glaring at the ground.  
  
"That's not exactly the kind of answer I was looking for." Naruto said after a moment of thought.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." Sasuke growled, trying to intimidate the blonde into dropping the subject.  
  
Naruto refused to let it go. "Well, I DO."  
  
Sasuke sighed and stopped walking, glaring at the boy. "I just DID. I wasn't THINKING, I didn't plan it, it just happened." Noticing that other people in the road were staring at them Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him once again off the road into the field behind some trees, a forest looming next to them. That should be private enough Lowering his voice he hissed, "I don't KNOW why I did it, just like I don't know why I feel... Argh!" The dark haired boy let out something between and growl and a grunt, pinning the blonde against a tree.  
  
"Sasu-" Naruto started, but the other boy shook him, a dark look in his eyes.  
  
"I don't know why you have this affect on me. Sometimes when you're around I feel so frustrated, like my skin's trying to crawl off. When you're not around I feel angry and tense and all I can think about is what you're doing. I don't know why I get so angry when I see you getting along well with Sakura, when your eyes soften as you talk about that woman-"  
  
"What woman? Illia?" Naruto asked, confused.  
  
Sasuke ignored him continuing, "I don't know why I constantly want to touch you. And I don't know why I enjoy this so much." That said he grabbed the blonde's hands, pressing them into the tree, he kissed the boy again.  
  
Naruto stared wide eyed, allowing the kiss, allowing Sasuke to have control. It didn't help that he DID know why he was feeling all these things, it didn't help that he knew how strongly he felt about Sasuke, because knowing was not any comfort, it didn't provide any end to the questions that kept popping up. He wondered ruefully if Sasuke didn't really have it better by never feeling this sort of thing before. It also didn't help that every time the dark haired boy kissed him, every time Naruto WANTED his kiss, a feeling of betrayal stabbed into his heart. In some parts of his mind it really WAS only yesterday that he was a married old father of four and Sasuke's rough, passionate, confused kisses were so different from the soft, loving ones that Illia gave.  
  
Sasuke must have noticed that he did not have the blonde's full attention because he suddenly released Naruto's hands, gruffly pulling the boy closer, tighter until it was almost painful. One hand wandered up, grabbing a handful of the thick, soft hair. As Naruto's mouth opened in surprise he took the initiative to deepen the kiss, allowing his teeth to bite softly on the other boy's lower lip.  
  
Naruto felt his eyes close as thought fled from his mind and he allowed his body to simply react to the feelings welling up inside of him. The feelings of guilt dropped away. His body felt more alert, more alive as the animalistic part of his being took over. Breathing in though his nose it wasn't only Sasuke's and his own scents that he could smell but also, as if it were a physical aspect of both of them, he could smell their excitement, their passion mingling together, but there was something else, too. The stench of another person hung in the air and listening he could hear the slight, almost inaudible breathing of a third person watching from the woods. With the fury of an animal interrupted when about to mate Naruto pulled away from Sasuke, glaring into the woods.  
  
Not eager to allow the kiss to end, but unwilling to admit it, Sasuke stepped away from Naruto, thrusting his hands into his pockets and looking away. He glanced back in surprise when he noticed the uncharacteristically dark aura around the blonde, who was sniffing the air and glancing about in the forest. Sasuke was forced to take a step back in surprise when his eyes reached Naruto's face. His normally clear, happy eyes looked almost red, (that had to be a trick of the light, right?) and his face was contorted in a rage Sasuke didn't even think the blonde boy was CAPABLE of.  
  
"I know you're in there, bastard." Naruto half-spoke half-growled into the forest. "Kentaar's stench is all over you. GET OUT HERE, NOW!" The last was said at nothing short of a roar. Sasuke glanced around. Naruto must be imagining things; he couldn't detect anybody, not even an animal, in the forest.  
  
The silence continued for a long moment, but then a slight, very soft rustling noise could be heard. A thin shadow, hands spread out to either side showing a lack of weapons, stepped slowly from the forest. "Magnificent." A deep, male voice called softly from the shadow. "I should have expected as much from Kentaar-sama's older brother."  
  
Naruto stepped between Sasuke and the strange man in a protective manner. Sasuke felt his hackles rise, how DARE that idiot protect HIM? If anything, it was going to be the other way around. Crossing his arms haughtily Sasuke stepped to the side, bringing himself next to Naruto. "Who are you?"  
  
The man ignored him, stepping closer to the angry blonde. "Truly magnificent, you are like a work of art. I can see why Kentaar-sama speaks so HIGHLY of you." He allowed a glance at Sasuke. "And such a strong partner, it will be a pity when Kentaar-sama kills you, little one. Of course, maybe I can convince him to let me play with you a little first."  
  
Sasuke allowed an angry growl to escape his lips, preparing himself to charge the offensive man. He couldn't see the man's face, it was still hidden in the shadows, but he had a feeling the man was smirking at him. He would have attacked, but Naruto's hand had grabbed his arm firmly.  
  
"What do you want?" Naruto growled, fighting against his desire to attack the man himself.  
  
"Oh..." The man tisked sadly. "You won't let me bait you into a fight... No fun... No matter. I have a message from Kentaar-sama. It's..." The man patted his clothing a thoughtful manner. "Ah, yes, here it is." He pulled a bag from his back and threw it at Naruto's feet, its stench, which until now had been disguised, was now so strong even Sasuke had to cover his nose.  
  
Naruto, hands shaking, bent down to pick up the bag and four heads rolled out, on each sat prominently the Konoha symbol Ninja head protector. Naruto shook in rage as he recognized one of the faces, a man he barely knew, but someone who had spent much of Naruto's childhood chasing the boy around and scolding him for his tricks. Naruto didn't even know the man's name.  
  
Attached to one of the other heads was a note. It read simply, 'Older Brother, a small gift to remind you- I'm on my way. Next time it will be someone closer to you, I promise you that. I apologize for not returning their entire bodies, but I fed them to my pack. An interesting fact about wolves... Once they've tasted human blood they need more, it's like an obsession. Well, I'll be seeing you soon.'  
  
Sasuke sunk to the ground, bile rising in his throat as he stared fixatedly at the terrified expression on one of the faces. "Bastard!" He growled, glaring at the place the messenger had been. But the man was no longer there. "DAMN!"  
  
Naruto, still shaking in fury, managed to growl to Sasuke, "Go to the Hokage. I'll take care of him."  
  
"IDIOT!" Sasuke snapped, grabbing at Naruto, trying to hold him back. There was no doubt in his mind that that man was powerful, powerful enough to kill both of them if he had wanted to. What made Naruto think he could catch the guy on his own, especially in his current state? But by the time his hand passed through where Naruto had been the blonde was already gone, out of reach, out of view. Sasuke cursed again, worry tightening his chest. Then he shook his head and ran to find the Hokage, or someone that could help, "That dobe better survive, or I'll kill him."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *glancing anxiously at the readers* OK... So be honest... What did you all think? *cowers behind the desk* I'll just wait here...  
  
Tenmar: *walking by, reading a piece of paper* Um... I have to apologize for the shortness of the ending author notes, apparently Psychic King-sama is a little anxious about people's reactions to this chapter and can't think of much to say. Anyway, Naruto-sama and Sasuke-kun are both a little riled up right now.  
  
Sasuke: *Storming in* A LITTE??? *looking around* WHERE IS SHE?  
  
Tenmar: Um... If you mean Psychic King-sama, she has expertly hidden.  
  
Sasuke: *looking around* She had to introduce that PERSON right after I finally get my hands on Naruto, didn't she? What happened to my romantic moment?  
  
Tenmar: *Looking surprised* You wanted the moment to be... longer? I mean, the next step would have been... *blushing*  
  
Sasuke: *glaring at Tenmar and stomps away*  
  
Tenmar: *shaking head* Anyway... *looks back at audience* Please review and let Psychic King-sama know what you think about this chapter so next chapter maybe I can get my... Iruka moments... *blushing* And there was one more thing... *reading piece of paper from Psychic King* She wanted to know which of us original characters you like the most and which of us you like the least... Hum. That's a silly question, I mean, OBVIOUSLY you like me best, right? *smiles charmingly at readers and walks off*  
  
Psychic King: *peaking from around her desk* Uh, hi! One more thing, now that everyone's gone. I got an e-mail from one of you readers mentioning that they might want to do some fan art (I'm not gonna name names because they might have changed their minds...) *pouting* But anyway, if ANY of you want to do some fan art and e-mail it to me, Hell YEAH! Feel free! I would be SO happy, as I have NO art skills. If anyone does the only thing I ask is that you send me a copy of the picture! Any questions or comments? E-mail me at Psychic_King@hotmail.com *waves to the readers* Bye! I'll update soon! I promise! Please review! 


	12. Embrace of Vengance

Psychic King: *dancing and throwing confetti around the room* Yeah! It's a party, everyone!  
  
Uzu: *joining in the dace* Yay! A party! What are we celebrating, anyway?  
  
Naruto: *throwing a large pile of confetti on Psychic King's head* who cares? It's a party!  
  
Psychic King: No, it's great! Look! *pulls computer out of nowhere* we got over 100 reviews on Embrace of Solitude! *looks at audience* you guys really like me!  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* WOW! Over 100 reviews... That's almost unbelievable! *Looking suspiciously at Psychic King* you didn't write any of them yourself, did you?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* NO! I didn't!  
  
Sakura: *stalking into the room* Psychic King-sama... Just the person I've been looking for... *smiles darkly at Psychic King*  
  
Psychic King: *Looking at Sakura in terror* Naruto, hold her off, please! I gotta escape! She's gonna kill me for having you and Sasuke make out last chapter. *runs away*  
  
Sakura: *eyes glowing* You can run, but you can't hide... *stalks after Psychic King*  
  
Naruto: *shrugs and continues dancing and throwing confetti*  
  
Uzu: *while dancing* Oh yeah! She probably wants one of us to mention that she DOESN'T own you guys... and yet somehow she DOES own us... *looking at Naruto* How does that work, Daddy?  
  
Naruto: *shrugs*  
  
Psychic King: *sneaking onto the screen, glancing to and fro and then looking at the readers; whispering* Hey, guys! I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews! This party is really for you! *points over shoulder at Naruto and Uzu dancing* OK, I know it's not much of a party, but I'm still trying to hide from Sakura... She wants to kill me for having Sasuke actually kiss Naruto. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are great! This chapter is extra long at last a page longer than normal, anyway) in gratitude! I hope you like it! *slinks slowly off screen*  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Kakashi smiled down at his lover as they made their way to Sasuke's house. Iruka was adorably happy right now. Ever since this morning when they brought Naruto back from the forest he'd been acting like a worried mother (not that Kakashi would say that to his face), but now that they were going to check on the boy he was practically beaming with happiness. He slipped his arm around Iruka, pulling him closer as they walked. "You seem to be in a good mood tonight."  
  
Iruka nodded, snuggling closer. "I'm just happy that things seem to be calming down now, and that there are so many people that are around to take care of Naruto."  
  
"Oh?" Kakashi's voice dripped with mock hurt, "not because you have the most wonderful lover in all Konoha?"  
  
"Well, I don't know about THAT..." Iruka's voice trailed off as he stared at someone approaching at a fast speed. "Who's that?"  
  
The silver haired man stepped forward, blocking the figure's path. "Oi! Sasuke-kun. Where are you going so quickly at this time of night?"  
  
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke slowed his pace and stopped when he reached the two, breathing heavily. "There was a man, back at the field near my house. Naruto went after him..."  
  
"Show me where." All joking dropped, Kakashi was already moving quickly towards the field leaving Iruka and Sasuke to chase after him.  
  
They reached the field and Sasuke showed them the spot Naruto vanished from. "Why were you back here-" Iruka broke off his question as he noticed the heads on the ground. "'Older Brother, a small gift to remind you- I'm on my way. Next time it will be someone closer to you, I promise you that. I apologize for not returning their entire bodies, but I fed them to my pack....'" Iruka's voice shook in anger as he read the message. "Bastard!"  
  
Kakashi turned his face to Sasuke, anger radiating off him. "Which direction?" Sasuke pointed and Kakashi was gone, they could both hear his voice calling, "Sasuke, go back to your house; Iruka, go tell Hokage-sama. I'll bring back Naruto."  
  
The two stared after Kakashi for a long moment. Iruka finally shook himself, and grabbed Sasuke. "Go home NOW, Sasuke. Tell Tenmar and the others what happened." He watched for a moment as Sasuke nodded and dashed off, making sure the boy really DID head back towards the house, then he bent down and picked up the heads, placing them gently back in the bag with a mixture of sorrow and anger and headed off to tell the Hokage. Someone was going to pay for this, of that Iruka had no doubt.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke sat on the roof of his house, watching for some sign of Naruto on the horizon, but there was nothing. They had been waiting for over three hours now. He had arrived at the house and immediately told everyone what had happened. Both Uzu and Tenmar immediately left with Sasuke to search for Naruto. Ganten, Mina, Sakura and Shikamaru remained at the house watching and waiting. But after two hours of searching there was still no sign. Not of Naruto, Kakashi or even the strange man that had appeared to deliver the message. With not even a trace to fall back on the three returned to the house feeling defeated and annoyed. Sasuke immediately climbed onto the roof to wait out Naruto's return. He had noticed Iruka arriving shortly after they appeared, but he couldn't bring himself to care or feel curious. All he could think about was Naruto. "Where IS he?" He growled impatiently.  
  
"Sasuke-kun." Iruka called, climbing up onto the roof. "So this is where you've been hiding." He settled himself down next to the boy. "Any signs yet?"  
  
Sasuke shook his head, sending a glare towards his former teacher.  
  
Iruka sighed, fighting the annoyance that was starting to rise. It wasn't Sasuke's fault that Naruto went chasing after that strange man; it also wasn't Sasuke's fault that Sasuke had no people skills whatsoever. "I'm worried about Naruto, too, but I'm sure he's fine. He has to be, Kakashi went after him."  
  
Sasuke turned his glare back out towards the forest, watching. After a moment he spoke to the teacher. "How can you do that? How can you have so much confidence in him?"  
  
Iruka thought for a moment, trying to think of the right words to say. "I have to trust in his strength because I'm not... strong like him, or even you and Naruto. I have to fight in my own way. It's different for you; you and Naruto are so close in power, in potential. You really CAN be by his side during everything... I-I AM jealous of the two of you for that, but... I have my own ways to protect and fight for what I love." He reached a hand out, placing it on Sasuke's shoulder. "You need to trust in Naruto. He's even stronger now, he'll be fine."  
  
Sasuke grunted, allowing the man's comforting touch, but annoyance still tinged his voice. "What would you know about it?"  
  
"I know that there's something going on between the two of you." Iruka smiled. "The way you two were always going at it, fighting and such... He was the only person you let past that cold façade of yours, too. And the way you've always protected him and saved him and watched over him... It's not easy, though, is it? Because he's suddenly so powerful and he doesn't seem to need your protection anymore. Not only that but now all this complicated business with him having been married and having four children. Makes it confusing, ne?" Iruka leaned back, lying against the roof, still keeping his eyes on the forest. "But don't worry, despite all that he's still Naruto and he's always going to need someone to watch his back, he's such a baka. Strong, but still a baka."  
  
Sasuke smirked, "THAT'S for sure. And I'm still stronger than he is." Suddenly Sasuke stiffened, his eyes focusing on the area where the forest ran along his back yard. Kakashi emerged from the tree line a moment later, Naruto slung over his shoulder. Sasuke jumped down immediately, grabbing Naruto from the man and looking him over. He was alive and breathing, he didn't seem to be in any pain and at first glance Sasuke could see no signs of any injuries, although the boy's clothing was torn to pieces and barely hanging on him, they were also covered in blood, but if it was Naruto's blood could not be seen.  
  
"He's fine, Sasuke." Kakashi said with a touch of humor in his voice. "He's just resting."  
  
Sasuke turned a glare at the man then stared moving Naruto inside. "I'll take him into his room, you tell the others that he's back." Still holding Naruto, Sasuke jumped back onto the roof, where he crawled through an upstairs window into the house.  
  
Kakashi and Iruka looked at each other for a moment. "I guess he didn't want to share." Iruka said after a moment. Kakashi grinned in response, but Iruka's manner had already turned serious again. "What happened out there? You were gone for so long, I was really worried."  
  
Kakashi smiled at his lover, wrapping an arm around the brunette he started towards the house. "A whole lot of nothing on my part. But why don't we go inside and I can tell everyone at the same time so I don't have to repeat my story again?"  
  
"Again? How many times have you told it already?"  
  
"Well, we did make a quick stop at Hokage-sama's first..." The silver haired man winced as his lover stiffened a bit.  
  
"HOW quick of a stop?" Iruka demanded, pulling away from Kakashi.  
  
"Two hours..."  
  
"TWO HOURS?" Iruka replied in disbelief. "And you couldn't even send a messenger over to let us know that Naruto was alright?"  
  
The shouting apparently caught the attention of those in the house as the front door opened and Tenmar and Uzu came running out, their faces falling when they noticed Naruto was not with Kakashi. "Did you find him?" Uzu demanded, marching up to Kakashi and grabbing him by the collar.  
  
"Hai, hai..." Kakashi sighed; it was going to be a long night. "Sasuke took him in through the upstairs window. He's probably resting in bed right now, which is where he should be. I'll answer as many of your questions as I can and when Naruto is feeling up to it he can fill in the rest, OK?"  
  
Tenmar noted with interest the way Iruka was purposely avoiding looking at and touching his lover but he said nothing. He could worry about Iruka later, for now his father had to be his top priority.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke climbed quickly through the window, pulling Naruto into his room and plopping him down on the bed. Hand shaking slightly, Sasuke removed Naruto's bloody clothing and tossed it onto the ground. Running a quick hand over the blonde's body he sighed in amazement and relief. There wasn't even one scratch. Grabbing a chair, Sasuke seated himself in a position to watch for the boy to wake up. A few moments passed, then a few more. Sasuke found himself glaring at the sleeping boy, how long was this gonna TAKE? He watched as Naruto rolled onto his side, facing away from Sasuke, and he heard the blonde mutter softly, "Sasuke..."  
  
Sasuke blushed, a small smile forming on his face. Well, whatever. Naruto would wake up when he was ready. Until then Sasuke found himself unwilling to leave Naruto's side. Watching the blonde curl happily into a small ball, a sudden wave of pure exhaustion washed over the dark haired boy. Making a quick decision, Sasuke pushed Naruto's sleeping form slightly to the side and crawled into the bed, wrapping a protective arm around the blonde. Naruto, still asleep, immediately curled into the warmth of Sasuke's body, wrapping one arm around the other boy's waist and nestling his head into Sasuke's chest. Still smiling slightly Sasuke fell quickly asleep.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke woke up with the sun light shining brightly onto his eyes. He sighed. He over slept AGAIN. He glanced down as Naruto snuggled closer to him, burying his face in Sasuke's shirt to hide from the sunlight. "Oi, dobe? Are you awake?"  
  
There was a long moment of silence and Sasuke began to wonder if there was anything the blonde COULDN'T sleep through. But slowly, almost unnoticeably, the blonde head shifted up, until Sasuke could see the piercing blue eyes staring strait into his soul. "yeah. I'm awake."  
  
"Good. Are you alight?"  
  
Naruto shrugged. "I'm OK."  
  
Sasuke nodded. Naruto wasn't putting on any airs, wasn't laughing like a maniac and wasn't trying to coax him into a fight so he knew this was an honest answer.  
  
Naruto sat up, covers falling off him as he stretched. That was when he noticed that he had been stripped of his clothing, all the way down to his boxers, which suddenly seemed like entirely too thin a piece of clothing to cover him. He glanced at Sasuke to see that the dark haired boy was only wearing his shorts and a tank top. Had they slept together all night like that? Blushing, he pulled a blanket over his mid section. "Eto... Sasuke-kun..."  
  
"You looked like shit." Sasuke commented, noticing the blush that was rising in the blonde's face. "And your clothes were all torn to pieces. Not to mention the fact that they were all bloody."  
  
"Yeah, well, you know... Fighting with a pack of wolves can get pretty messy..." Naruto grinned sheepishly.  
  
Sasuke glared at the blonde. "I wouldn't know... So are you going to talk about it?"  
  
"Well..." Naruto's grin turned devious. "I'll tell you if it's REALLY important to you, Sasuke-kun." He said in a playful tone. "If you'll admit that I'm the most awesomely powerful Ninja in Konoha." He had a triumphant look on his face.  
  
Sasuke looked away from the boy, pulling the blankets up around himself.  
  
Naruto's face went from devious to pouting. "What are you doing?"  
  
"If you're not going to talk about it, I'm going back to sleep." Sasuke replied, turning his face away from the blonde.  
  
"No fair! That's so mean, Sasuke-bastard!" Naruto had to fight to keep his voice from rising in anger and alerting everyone in the house that he was awake, but with some difficulty he did so.  
  
Sasuke turned and glared viciously at the boy, "I'm not interested in playing some stupid game right now."  
  
"Oi... Sasuke... Are you really mad at me?" Naruto whispered, getting up and sitting cross legged on the bed.  
  
Sasuke sat up, too, leaning his back against the headboard of the bed. "What do you think? Why'd you go after that guy?"  
  
"H-he killed four ninja! He was working for..." The blonde began to shake, a dark aura permeating around him. He wrapped his arms around his chest, face cast downwards, in such a way that Sasuke couldn't see any part of it.  
  
"Naruto?" Sasuke noticed that it looked as if the blonde's finger nails had grown and there was a reddish hue surrounding him. The boy looked up suddenly, his face lacked the innocence it usually held, in it's pace a dark feral look had taken over, his once blue eyes were now a blood red.  
  
"He was working for that... Do you really want to know what happened, Sasuke?" Naruto responded in a voice that could only be described as animalistic. Was it Sasuke's imagination or did Naruto suddenly look about ten years older? "I chased that man for almost an hour, he ran like the fucking coward he was, but it wasn't fast enough. I realized it while I was chasing him, he wasn't really trying to loose me, he wanted to lead me somewhere, but I really couldn't give a damn. All I could think about was revenge. That man became not just a symbol of my brother, but in my mind he somehow actually WAS that bastard, Kentaar, and I wanted to tear him limb from limb. He killed those four Ninja, he destroyed EVERYTHING I built for myself and MY mate and he tried to kill my children, is trying to kill my friends, and is even targeting you."  
  
"So you went after him for revenge?" Sasuke asked quietly, almost in awe at this different Naruto. He easily understood Naruto like this, easily could grasp the concept of hatred and vengeance.  
  
"Sasuke, I don't just want revenge on my brother; that would be too simple, I want him to live the lost existence I felt when I returned to my home that day to see my beloved wife hanging from his jaws. I want him to know the pure terror I felt when I noticed little Uzu being squashed under one of his paws with big, gaping claw wounds across his chest. I want him to understand the helpless feelings of watching four children scream for their mother and knowing that there is nothing that can be done to bring her back to them. AND I want him to know the complete torture of being sealed, KNOWING that it's a trap, KNOWING that the town that produced that wondrous woman that brought me so much joy was going to hate me forever for HIS sick enjoyment, KNOWING that those most precious children that I created with that woman were going to have NO way to survive, and KNOWING that there is nothing I could do about it. I don't just want to kill him; I want him to know true pain." The last sentence was said at more than a yell, louder than a scream. Sasuke wouldn't have been surprised if half of Konoha turned up at his house sometime that day to complain about the noise, but that didn't really matter. What DID matter was the look in Naruto's face, a look Sasuke had seen mirrored in his own when he thought about his OWN brother.  
  
Naruto calmed himself just enough to bring his voice down to talking level; the disgust and hatred were still thick in it, though. "But that bastard never knew how to love, so I made do with killing his lackey. And the pack of wolves that attacked me afterwards. Kakashi showed up as I was finishing the wolves and I guess I passed out. Is that what you wanted to know?" Naruto's questioning red eyes looked at Sasuke, then at the house's other occupants, who had entered the room around the point Naruto had started explaining what he wanted his brother to experience.  
  
A dark silence fell across the room as each person dealt with their own reactions to Naruto's little speech. Uzu was the first to break the silence. Tears running down his face, he pulled his shirt open to reveal three deep scars running from his right shoulder blade to his left thigh. "Daddy... You remembered..." He said, running his hand softly over the scar  
  
Naruto stared at the scar with horror, anger and no small amount of regret. "I wish I had stayed to see that wound heal. I wish I hadn't gone after that man the next day when he started attacking Konoha. They could have taken care of him by themselves, and I should have stayed and taken care of you guys. I just couldn't think, I couldn't breathe... Every time I closed my eyes I saw your mother hanging there; I saw you, Uzu, drowning in a pool of your own blood as he stood over you; I heard, you screaming, Mina, as your mother's blood dropped onto you and I saw him waiting for me to let my guard down again and coming for you each one by one. But I should never have left you, I shouldn't have..." The words trailed off as he stared at his children, tears pouring down his face.  
  
Surprising everybody in the room, Shikamaru was the first to react. "Geeze, Naruto, you're such a pain, I'm gonna have to listen to my mother bitch about not coming home last night when I get home." Shikamaru sighed, smacking the boy on the back of the head. "And put on some clothes, bastard." Those words said Shikamaru walked out of the room. Uzu was staring at him appreciatively then looked quickly back to his father.  
  
Naruto rubbed the top of his head, face and eyes returning to normal. "Ow!"  
  
Seeing Naruto return to normal made Sakura forget the fear she had felt when she first entered the room. Looming dangerously over the boy, Sakura smacked him as well.  
  
"Ow!" The blonde glared up at the girl then quickly backed away when he saw the look in her eyes. "Sakura, what's with that look?"  
  
"Teme... How DARE you sleep with Sasuke dressed like THAT!" She smacked him again.  
  
"What was THAT for?" Naruto asked, finally choosing to hide behind Sasuke until the room's other occupants left.  
  
"For making everyone worry last night." That said, the pink haired girl spun on her heel and stormed out of the room.  
  
Tenmar smiled at his young father. "Poor girl's probably got a lot of questions now. I guess I better go take care of that before she goes asking around town... But I'm so glad you're safe, Naruto-sama."  
  
"Yeah! Me too, Daddy!" Uzu jumped up to the side of the bed and kissed his father on the cheek like a child, wrestling the boy out from behind Sasuke, bumping the dark haired boy roughly.  
  
"Hey!" Sasuke glared at the red head, who was trying to wiggle behind Sasuke to sit next to Naruto. "That's it, everyone OUT!"  
  
Pouting, Uzu allowed Ganten to grab his arm and drag him out of the room. Ganten sent a rare smile to his father, "We should talk when you're... dressed."  
  
Mina was the last to leave the room, hiding slightly behind the door she smiled at Naruto. "I'm glad you're OK..." Then she disappeared, closing the door quietly behind her.  
  
Naruto smiled happily at the closed door. "Heh... I think she's starting to like me."  
  
Sasuke growled at the blonde, smacking the boy on the back of his head. "Bi-polar freak."  
  
"What?" Naruto leaned close to the dark haired boy, confusion shining across his perfect face.  
  
Sasuke became suddenly very aware of the fact that an almost completely naked Naruto was leaning exceptionally close to him. "Dobe. Next time you go off to kill your brother, or whatever, you're taking me with you."  
  
"It's not your fight, Sasuke-bastard." Naruto's tone was serious, but his eyes remained pure blue.  
  
"I'm making it my fight."  
  
"Fine, then when you go off to kill YOUR brother, you won't mind if I tag along."  
  
Ignoring him, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him roughly into a laying position on the bed. Leaning over him, Sasuke growled softly. "If I have to keep my eyes on you every moment of the day I will, if I have to sleep with you every night, I will, but I WON'T be left to wait again."  
  
"Sasu-" Whatever Naruto had been about to say was cut off by Sasuke's mouth covering his own. Naruto was starting to notice a trend with Sasuke's kisses. They usually seemed to be used to stop him from talking. Shrugging, Naruto wrapped his arms around the angry boy, pulling him closer. They were going to have to talk about this one day. About what their relationship was and about both of their pasts, although Naruto's was probably going to be the major problem, but for now... "Ungh..." Naruto groaned as Sasuke pressed against him.  
  
"Shut up, do you want everyone to hear?" Sasuke hissed, raising his head slightly.  
  
"Don't care." Naruto responded, biting gently on Sasuke's shoulder, the closest part of Sasuke's body currently to Naruto's mouth.  
  
"Ah..." The deep voice replied in a gasp.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Downstairs Sakura was rubbing her temple, sighing in confusion. "OK, fine. Naruto is the fox demon, who wasn't really a demon at all, but actually a pretty nice guy that was just framed by his evil brother, a wolf demon-thing, and before he was sealed he had you four, so you're all his children."  
  
Tenmar nodded encouragingly. "Yes, that's right."  
  
Uzu grinned, too, smiling at both Sakura and Shikamaru. Shikamaru had picked up on the story right away, but somehow Sakura was having problems grasping the entire thing. "That's right, cuz!"  
  
"But HOW does that end up with Naruto as MY uncle and you all as my cousins?" Sakura said, frustration almost causing her to reach breaking point.  
  
"Obviously!" Shikamaru said, finally loosing his patience with the girl. "Illia, YOUR aunt, married Naruto, THEY conceived Uzu and the others, THEN Naruto got sealed and is now the boy that you know today. What about this is hard to understand?" Rising from the table, Shikamaru stormed into the kitchen, muttering about the stupidity of women.  
  
Uzu grinned after him, eyes holding an almost serious, tender look. "He's so clever." He glanced back at the now fuming Sakura. "Not that you're not brilliant, too, cuz, you're just no Shikamaru."  
  
"DON'T COMPARE ME TO THAT LAZY BASTARD!" Sakura yelled, releasing inner Sakura's rage and punching the red haired idiot. She huffed out of the room, going in the opposite direction Shikamaru had.  
  
"And you're strong, too!" Uzu called after her, grinning up at his brother.  
  
Tenmar was shaking his head, a mixture of annoyance and humor playing across his face. "You know, that Shikamaru kid's pretty young."  
  
"You know, that Iruka guy's pretty old." Uzu replied, not missing a beat.  
  
Tenmar blushed as the door swung open, and the object of his desires walked in. "Have either of you seen Naruto?" Iruka asked, looking from face to face.  
  
Uzu snickered and shook his head, poking at his brother playfully.  
  
Tenmar composed himself and whacked Uzu's hand away from him, "No, I don't think he's come out of his room yet."  
  
Iruka sighed and Tenmar noticed how adorable his face looked when he was annoyed, "I wanted to talk to him before I had to go teach."  
  
"Why don't we go check?" Tenmar asked, hoping that Iruka wouldn't point out the obvious fact that he really didn't need to go WITH Iruka to check on Naruto.  
  
To Tenmar's extreme joy Iruka nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea."  
  
They walked the completely too short distance to Naruto's room, where Iruka raised his hand to knock. A slightly muffled moaning noise stopped his hand mid-knock. Sasuke's voice asked, "What'd you do THAT for, dobe?"  
  
Iruka and Tenmar exchanged glances as Naruto's reply of, "What, it felt good, right?" reached their ears. Then there was another moaning noise.  
  
Iruka and Tenmar, faces bright red, both turned and headed back down the hallway. Kakashi walked up to his lover, grabbing his hand. "Did you speak to Naruto?"  
  
Iruka shook his head, eyes wide. "N-no... I'll talk to him when I come back tonight..."  
  
"You're coming back tonight?" Uzu asked, walking towards the front door with Shikamaru and Sakura.  
  
"Yeah... Yes! You guys start your basic Ninja training tonight, around seven, I guess, so I can have dinner with Kakashi."  
  
Tenmar glared at the silver haired man as he wrapped his arm around Iruka, but nodded and smiled at Iruka. "We'll look forward to it."  
  
"Yeah, speak for yourself." Uzu threw in as he walked out the door with Sakura and Shikamaru. "I'm going to walk these two home now, I'll be back later!"  
  
Shikamaru bowed slightly, speaking in his usual uninterested tone, "thanks for having me."  
  
Uzu grinned, placing his hand on the spiky haired boy's shoulder. "You can come over ANYTIME."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *glancing hopefully at readers; still whispering* SO, was it OK?  
  
Sasuke: *stomping on screen* There was too much talking.  
  
Psychic King: *rolling eyes* WHAT? You got to make out, right?  
  
Sasuke: THAT'S all we were doing?  
  
Psychic King: *nodding, voice rising* Yeah, what, you think I'd write some sort of story where TWELVE year olds are getting it on?  
  
Sasuke: *glaring and crossing arms* we're a very mature twelve.  
  
Naruto: *running on screen, throwing confetti at Uzu and hiding behind Psychic King* Take that!  
  
Uzu: *tossing a glass of punch at Naruto, splashing him AND Psychic King* I'll never let you beat me, evil fiend!  
  
Naruto: *runs off screen screaming* I'll defeat you, because I AM the confetti monster!  
  
Uzu: *runs chasing after Naruto*  
  
Psychic King: *glancing pointedly at Sasuke*  
  
Sasuke: *glaring at the spot Naruto disappeared to* Well, at least I'M a mature twelve year old.  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* Too little, too late... *looking to readers* anyway, I've been getting some questions from you guys that I'd like to take the time to answer now... The first is something a few of you have asked... WHY did I ask which of my original characters you liked the best? Well... Hee hee... *Laughing uncomfortably* It has NOTHING to do with killing someone off... Really! *crossing fingers behind back* No, seriously, I can't guarantee that no one will die, but that wasn't really my reason for asking, it was more like curiosity. *smiles encouragingly at readers* The OTHER thing I wanted to comment on was that I have received a surprising amount of support for a Tenmar/Iruka moment, at least. I am working on this, really I am, but I couldn't find a way to squeeze it into this chapter without squeezing out something, and I was kinda pleased with what it was like, so... (Not that I didn't spend ridiculous amounts of time re-writing parts and adding and taking out scenes. It would have been out as early as two day ago except I felt the need to do some heavy re- editing, so I REALLY hope you liked it!). ANYWAY! That's all for this time! Please review and let me know what you thought!  
  
Sakura: *sneaking up behind Psychic King* THERE you are! *grabs the struggling Psychic King by the collar and drags her off screen* We have some THINGS to discuss, oh yes we do...  
  
Psychic King: *whimpering* Please... somebody, help me.......... 


	13. Embrace of abduction

Psychic King: *Looking desperately at the readers* OK! I KNOW it's been a long time since my last update, but I have a valid excuse- I mean reason! First there was Valentines Day weekend... I had a few things to do, a few friends to hang out with and a few tests to study for. The tests were really killer, by the way. My mother is a Professor at the Univesity I attend and everyone in her department knows who I am... SADLY, on of the classes I HAVE to take this semester is being taught by her boss and he knows who I am... *Sigh* I feel like I REALLY need to perform in this class, because I'd make her look bad... *shaking head* never go to the university that your mother teaches at, and if you can't avoid it, don't take a class taught by her boss... Anyway, the OTHER test actually was I my MAJOR. My major is important to me and I REALLY want to impress my professor in that class so I can get good recommendations when I go to Grad school. *wishful thinking* That was finished and done with by Wednesday, but somehow, to top off the rest of my horrid week (neither of the tests I felt fairly represented my actual KNOWLEDGE and COMREHENSION of the materials, I HATE tests like that...) my internet connection has been down since Wednesday night. It really sucks and I am VERY unhappy, but that's the way it is. Anyway, Because of that, this chapter is actually REALLY long, though, because I just kept adding to it because I couldn't post anything... *sigh* Anyway, I'm not in the mood to make this preface really long, so I'm just gonna cut right to the story... Sorry about the long wait, I hope this chapter makes it worth the wait, though! Please forgive me!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 13  
  
Sakura walked along side Uzu and Shikamaru quietly. It was obvious that Uzu was more interested in getting to know the lazy Shikamaru than his supposed cousin anyway. Not that she really minded suddenly there was a lot to think about. Naruto was the fox demon, a nice guy, he was her uncle, and he was in bed with Sasuke half-naked... Somehow that last one refused to leave her mind. But it had been innocent, right? After all, Naruto was passed out when he got back last night, so Sasuke must have crawled into bed with him and Sasuke would NEVER want to... be that close to Naruto, right? So Naruto must have been cold or maybe Sasuke was worried about... Sasuke? Worried...? Why would he worry about Naruto enough to climb into bed with him? Sasuke, who avoided physical contact... They were friends, sure; Sakura wasn't blind. And Sasuke smiled a lot more when Naruto was around, worried when Naruto wasn't around, and ignored almost everything else, but that was just because they were teammates, right? After all, Sasuke was nice to her, too, right? RIGHT?  
  
She thought back over the times that Sasuke's taken care of her, helped her... And Naruto. Mostly Naruto, come to think of it. In fact, he rarely helped her unless Naruto was involved. Even the time he saved her on that mission that seemed to have started this whole mess; he only protected her AFTER he protected Naruto...  
  
Sakura shook her head, mentally rebuking herself. She was being paranoid. Of COURSE Sasuke didn't like Naruto THAT way. That would just be weird. She glanced at Shikamaru and Uzu who were still deep in conversation. If Uzu and Tenmar were to be believed then Naruto was their father, anyway. That meant that he was interested in girls, because he'd been married to Aunt Illia. Of course if that was true that also meant that Naruto was her uncle. Which was more unappealing, Naruto as an uncle or Sasuke gay? She rebuked herself again. She would rather have a million Uncle Naruto's than loose Sasuke to the blonde idiot. She LOVED Sasuke. He was her world; it wasn't possible that he could fall in love with anyone else, right? Especially with someone as annoying, stupid, aggravating and dense as Naruto. Of course, ever since he moved in with Sasuke, Naruto'd been acting a lot more mature. He even stopped bothering her as often, like he'd lost interest or something...  
  
Eyes widening in surprise, Sakura suddenly stopped walking, staring at Uzu and Shikamaru as they turned to look at her questioningly. "I-I just remembered that I have something I have to do before I go home... I'm gonna take care-I have to go check on something, bye!"  
  
Uzu raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru who shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me. In my opinion woman are completely irrational."  
  
Uzu grinned. "Glad to hear it."  
  
As Sakura ran her mind kept jumping to things... The way Sasuke hated her touch, the way Naruto suddenly lost interest in her, the way they stared at each other. WHY had she not noticed it before? Why had she allowed them to get so close? Surely there was something she could have done to stop it from happening, some way to wedge herself between them.  
  
Panting she arrived at the house. It looked like Tenmar and Ganten were heading out somewhere, if she could just avoid being seen... She really didn't want to have to explain herself if she was wrong. That might push them closer together. She jumped up on the long fence that surrounded the Uuchiha mansion, staying upon it until the two men passed her. Staying in the trees Sakura jumped slowly and silently to the tree standing outside the room Naruto and Sasuke had been in. She made sure she was higher than the window, looking down into the room, heart pounding.  
  
A slight smile lit across her face, Sakura sighed in relief. Naruto and Sasuke were both still in the room, but they were both fully dressed. Naruto was sprawled out on the bed, lying on his stomach and facing Sasuke, who was seated in a chair, arms crossed; an angry, annoyed expression on his face. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but she could see Sasuke's lips form the word 'Dobe' once or twice. As expected, Naruto's body stiffened; jumping up the blonde formed his hands into fists advancing towards the dark haired boy.  
  
Placing a relieved hand over her pounding heart, Sakura breathed another sigh of relief. Of course there was nothing going on between Sasuke and Naruto, why had she allowed her imagination to run so wild? They were friends, rivals... There wasn't anything else there. She glanced down and almost lost her balance in surprise. Mina stood directly beneath her. The red headed girl seemed to be crying; she was holding her head between her hands, both hands clenched around fist-fulls of hair.  
  
"No..." The tormented looking girl moaned, swaying from side to side. "No... I can't do it. I don't want to listen to you!" Last words coming out in a scream, Mina's body shook as she fell to the ground, sobbing.  
  
Sakura sent a terrified glance through the window again, sure that the boys would have been alerted by Mina's screams. Sure enough, Sasuke, who was now leaning over Naruto in what Sakura guessed was mean to be an intimidation stance, glanced sharply outside. Sakura prayed that he would not look up, that Naruto would not look up...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto gulped as Sasuke walked up to him, eyes dark. They had been talking for the past hour about things, in particular what the hell was going on between them. Naruto, trying desperately to be mature about everything, spent a large amount of time trying to convince Sasuke that they should try to avoid the physical contact that had become a regular occurrence the last day or two. Sasuke smirked and said something about Naruto not having enough self control to stop it anyway, why not go with the flow?  
  
So when Sasuke smirked at him Naruto found himself replying something flippant about not caring if they never did it again. Sasuke's smirk had grown and he called Naruto a liar and a dobe, and then there he was, leaning temptingly over the boy, hands placed on the bed on either side of Naruto's body, and his face was getting closer. Naruto cursed his treacherous body as it started responding to Sasuke's closeness, Sasuke's desire.  
  
Naruto gulped again as Sasuke's face was slowly lowering towards his own. He felt his hands start to rise, to grab Sasuke, to hurry the process. Half of him was dying in anticipation and the other half was screaming at him to remember his principles and push the dark haired boy away. The anticipating part of his psyche was JUST about to tell his sensible side where to shove it when he heard Mina's screams.  
  
Sasuke sighed, leaning further over Naruto to glance out the window. He was JUST about to prove just how badly the blonde wanted him, too. Mina was huddled under the tree; it looked like she was crying. "There's something wrong with her."  
  
Naruto wiggled his body up, leaning his head backwards until he could see upside down out the window. Naruto nodded, bringing his head back up to look at Sasuke. The corner of his eyes caught on a glimpse of pink hair. "Sakura?"  
  
Sasuke looked at him skeptically. "What?"  
  
Naruto pushed Sasuke away. "I'm gonna go check on her."  
  
"Oi! Dobe." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand before he could completely escape, drawing the blonde into a quick, vicious kiss. "We WILL continue this latter."  
  
Naruto nodded, a slight blush covering his face. He glanced quickly out the window where he thought he had glimpsed Sakura, but there was no sign of the girl. Shaking his head he grinned quickly at Sasuke and dashed down the stairs. Maybe it was wrong of him, but he was king of excited that he was going to get to act like a REAL father to Mina for a change.  
  
Sasuke sighed, fighting back the jealous feelings that were welling up inside him. Naruto was her father; of COURSE he was going to go help her if she needed him. It wasn't like Naruto was hiding any romantic feelings for the girl. Recently he hadn't even been paying attention to Sakura. Not that Sasuke was surprised. Sakura was obviously a bad match for the blonde. That didn't explain the immense feeling of relief that Sasuke felt about it. He realized, as he glanced out the window to see Naruto looking lost as Mina turned her head towards him, that he was feeling more than just lust or hormones. He smiled slightly as Naruto's face went from lost to desperate and Mina buried her tear streaked face in his orange sweater. Obviously the idiot didn't know how to deal with girls.  
  
Sasuke sat back, keeping his eyes on the blonde as he desperately tried to find out what was wrong with his daughter. Ever time he asked her a question she just seemed to get more and more distraught until finally it appeared that he gave up on finding out what was wrong and was attempting to cheer the girl up. He really was useless, wasn't he? But when he smiled the girl's tears faded away and Sasuke felt his chest tighten. Naruto said something low to the girl and she laughed, wiping the tears from her face and giving Naruto a quick shy hug before running off somewhere.  
  
The blonde's smile got even bigger, threatening to engulf his whole face as he glanced up to see Sasuke looking at him from the window. He held his hand up in a victory signal, still beaming from ear to ear.  
  
Sasuke moved quickly away from the window, his first intention being to go down and grab the idiot blonde and... what? Sasuke sat down on the bed, forcing himself to stop and think about what he was doing. He didn't like the fact that he was a sudden slave to his desires. What was this warm feeling running through his body? Hormones, right? It was just a part of being a teenager. When he got older these feeling, this strange reaction to Naruto would disappear, right?  
  
Glancing back out the window, Sasuke felt a sudden rush of fear. Naruto was gone. Where was that moron? Without thinking, Sasuke was on his feet in an instant pulling the door open. He frowned; the door was unusually heavy-  
  
Naruto, hand still clenching the door, tumbled into the room, landing on Sasuke. "Oi! What're you trying to do, Sasuke-bastard? I thought you were going to tear my arm off! What's the hurry?" The blonde's irritation faded away as he was suddenly wrapped in Sasuke's embrace. He tilted his head questioningly. "Sasuke? Is something wrong?"  
  
As suddenly as Sasuke had grabbed hold of Naruto he pushed him away. "Dobe! I thought you'd disappeared again." He stood over the blonde with an angry glare, but it was no use. He couldn't remain angry at him. He sighed, sitting down heavily on the bed.  
  
Naruto wiggled his way closer to Sasuke, until he was sitting at his feet, a teasing grin on his face. "You were worried about me!" He accused, poking at the dark haired boy's stomach.  
  
Sasuke glared at the blonde. "Why would I worry about someone as stupid as you?" He asked, as much to himself as Naruto. He grabbed the blonde's head, pulling his face closer. "Why do I care if you go away? Why do I forget everything when you smile? Why do I always want to touch you, hold you, feel your warmth?"  
  
Naruto sat in quiet surprise for a moment. He expected Sasuke's anger at these feelings, expected Sasuke to act rough, to hide his feelings under either anger or cruelty, but this... Sasuke's gentle grasp on Naruto's face, his soft whisper as he earnestly searched Naruto's face for the answers. Naruto felt a soft, mature smile crossing his face as he leaned closer to the confused boy. Sasuke must have been more shook up than he realized by last night's adventures. "That's obvious." Naruto responded quietly to Sasuke's confused face. Leaning in, he took the initiative and kissed the dark haired boy softly. He smiled genuinely as he pulled away. "You're in love with me."  
  
For a moment that seemed so right, it fit so well... Sasuke found himself nodding quietly, leaning in for another kiss... And then his brain caught up with the rest of his body, and he was pushing Naruto onto the floor. "Dobe! What kind of idiot would love someone as stupid as you?"  
  
Naruto was grinning boyishly again, "You really shouldn't call yourself an idiot, Sasuke-bastard. Not that I blame you for falling for me, though. I mean..." Naruto pulled his shirt off, running his hands seductively over his own chest. "I'm pretty hot, after all." He glanced at Sasuke, teasing glint in his eyes. "I guess you're OK, too. Not that you can really tell with all those layers of shirts you wear."  
  
Knowing a challenge when he heard one, Sasuke immediately stripped his shirt off, realizing only afterwards that he was doing exactly what Naruto wanted. But Naruto was already advancing, pushing Sasuke down on his bed, tan hands running over Sasuke's pale chest. With a growl Sasuke grabbed Naruto and flipped him underneath. "Don't think I'd let you be in control." He grabbed his discarded shirt using it to tie Naruto's hands together. "You can stay like that for now." Lowering his head, Sasuke pressed his mouth against Naruto's, allowing his hand to caress slowly over the blonde's tan chest.  
  
Sasuke slowly moved his head away, biting softly on Naruto's ear. "Sasuke..." Naruto moaned quietly, wiggling his body under Sasuke's weight. He stopped suddenly as Sasuke hand ran slowly down, past his belt line. Even though the dark haired boy's hands were above Naruto's pants, it was still a very intense action, a sort of heat ran through Naruto's body. Sasuke's hands moved in a random, almost aimless fashion- until they found their target. "Sasuke!"  
  
The dark haired boy glanced up, smirk on his face as one of his hands lightly played with the bulge in Naruto's pants. "What? It feels good, doesn't it?" He imitated, throwing Naruto's words from earlier that morning back in the blonde's face.  
  
Of course this morning Sasuke had been complaining about Naruto biting his shoulder (there was still a small visible mark, Naruto noticed with a small amount of pleasure). This was something completely different... Naruto wasn't sure he was ready for their relationship to become this intense. Of course, Sasuke was a special case, even though he was only twelve playing was something he hadn't done since the day his brother destroyed his clan. To him it probably only felt natural to move quickly past the making out stage... A small gasp escaped Naruto's lips as Sasuke's caresses became a little more firm, then moved away completely.  
  
Sasuke sat up, untying Naruto's hands. He smirked as Naruto's face went from disappointment quickly to relief then to confusion. "You didn't really think I was going to go any further, did you, dobe?"  
  
Naruto shrugged, a lost feeling welling up inside him. Sasuke sure was a sadistic little bastard, wasn't he?  
  
Sasuke's smirk widened, in fact, Naruto could almost swear it was a real smile... Almost. "I just wanted to see your face. I wanted to see what it would look like when you were... really enjoying things."  
  
"You shouldn't tease an adu-" Naruto stopped himself. He had been about to tell that brat not to tease adults, but that wasn't right. Although he felt himself to be in many ways (in MOST ways) still a child, he remembered vividly, especially in times like these, what it felt like to be with someone, to be joined emotionally and physically. And it wasn't only that, he had enough trouble controlling his desire while they were so close without Sasuke trying to... He sighed in frustration, then put a pout on his face. "I mean, you shouldn't tease a person like that. It's not nice!" He said, whining. "Anyway, I'm only twelve, I'm way too young to be taken advantage of by someone like you! Pervert!" As a crowing feature to his innocent act Naruto stuck his tong out at the dark haired boy, crossing his arms and turning away.  
  
"Nice try." Sasuke replied, forcing Naruto's face to turn back towards him. Bringing Naruto's face as close to his own as he could without actually touching he whispered, "You're four children too late for me to swallow your innocent act." Gently bringing their lips together he broke away just long enough to add, "I liked that look, though. I want to see a lot more of it in the future, now that you're mine."  
  
In a moment of complete confusion, Naruto could think of nothing to reply to Sasuke's bold ownership statement. Instead he leaned in, allowing Sasuke to kiss him once more. One day he was going to have to tell Sasuke how he felt and teach Sasuke how love was a partnership, but for now... He closed his eyes slowly, just barely missing a flash of pink hair dash by his window.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sakura ran as fast and as far as her body could handle, keeping high above Konoha, on the roofs and trees of the village, she wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone or anything right now. Tears flowed from her eyes, all she could see, constantly flashing through her mind was Sasuke pushing Naruto down, Sasuke tying Naruto's hands together, SASUKE kissing and licking the other boy's body. This had to be Naruto's fault. Sasuke wouldn't do something like that, Naruto HAD to have seduced him, forced him somehow...  
  
But even as she thought it, she knew it couldn't be true. Naruto wasn't clever enough or patient enough to MAKE Sasuke like him, no... Sasuke had to have been doing those things on his own. But WHY? If it hadn't been for the look in Sasuke's face she could have believed that it was just a game, that it hadn't meant anything, but he was ENJOYING it... Not only that, he was enjoying Naruto enjoying it. She knew the right thing to do would be to step aside, to allow them their happiness, but she'd wanted Sasuke so long, THOUGHT about only Sasuke for so long... All she could think was, HOW could Naruto do this to her? It was entirely his fault, she was sure. If Naruto didn't exist than Sasuke would have loved her. If Naruto hadn't been born Sasuke would have been all hers.  
  
In that moment she hated Naruto with a deeper passion that she had EVER loved Sasuke. It was Naruto's fault. And Naruto was going to pay...  
  
In the shadows a dark presence smiled, a voice rose from the shadow, making a tsk noise. "Sakura-chan... jealousy does NOT become a lady."  
  
Sakura turned at the sound of the voice, first surprise then recognition and disgust crossing her features. "What the hell do YOU want?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..." The voice replied softly, as the figure moved closer. "I'm afraid I have to take you to my master now. He's been so hungry, you see. Those Ninja the other night weren't enough, he needs something that will really hurt Naruto-sama. You're small and insignificant, but..."  
  
Sakura's eyes widened in fear as the figure approached her, she opened her mouth, but no sound would come out. WHY had she traveled so far away from the town? She struggled to move, but it was as if she was captured, unable to move at all. It reminded her of Shikamaru's shadow technique, except as she could not move the figure was getting closer. Tears poured from her eyes, she HAD to warn Sasuke and Naruto... But then there was darkness.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakashi sighed as he placed his masterpiece in front of his lover. Iruka's mind was a million miles away as he leafed through a large pile of paper work. "Iruka, love... Would you PLEASE put that away?" He touched the brunette's face, causing him to look up and smile.  
  
"Sure. I'm sorry Kakashi, with my first lesson training those four in basics tonight and lessons at school getting further into the semester... I guess I don't have a lot of time." While he talked Iruka was quickly stuffing the papers into his bag. "You know, you'd think at a Ninja school there wouldn't be so much paper work."  
  
Kakashi smiled through his mask at his lover. "As long as I get at least SOME of your attention it's fine."  
  
Iruka grinned, a slight blush covering his face. "Well, you have my undivided attention at night."  
  
Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose to the point it disappeared into his hair line. "Is that so? I could have sworn the last few nights we actually had alone..." He paused as if concentrating, "Now it's been a long time, granted, but I could have SWORN that the last time that happened, ages ago, by the way, I stayed up until an ungodly hour waiting for you to finish with your school work. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but you fell strait asleep afterwards, didn't you?"  
  
Iruka blushed again, he knew Kakashi was only teasing but he felt extremely guilty about how little time he managed to spend with his lover. "I..." He looked down, forlorn expression across his face. To top off everything, he KNEW Kakashi didn't really want him spending time with Tenmar, which was JUST what the Hokage had ordered him to do.  
  
Kakashi's heart softened as Iruka started looking particularly depressed. "I'm sorry." He once again caressed Iruka's face. "I know it's hard on you, too. I'd wait forever for YOU."  
  
Iruka grinned suddenly, an idea popping quickly into his head. "You know, it's only... 5:45 and I don't have to be there until 7... If we eat fast, we could probably..." He didn't even need to finish his statement, Kakashi's mask was down and he was inhaling the beautiful dinner he had prepared like... Well, like Naruto with ramen. Iruka blushed, but quickly followed his lover's example. Only ten minuets later they were rising from the table and shutting their bed room door behind themselves.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tenmar paced slowly outside the house he knew Iruka lived in with Kakashi. He had been walking the city, watching for some signs of Kentaar or his followers. This was his new job, because he knew Kentaar better than anyone else, save his father, the Hokage had asked him and his siblings to help safe guard the village. It killed him to think that four of Naruto-sama's precious Konoha residents had already been caught and used by the evil man. There were probably more missing, too.  
  
Kentaar was a patient bastard and completely capable of playing with his prey. If what Sasuke said was true, than Kentaar had promised to attack someone close to Naruto next, as well. Tenmar couldn't HELP but worrying about Iruka. He knew it was probably unlikely; Kentaar would more likely go after an easier prey first, a child or someone unfortunate enough to stray from the village boundaries alone...  
  
Tenmar glanced anxiously at the sky. It was getting late; it had to almost be seven, right? Maybe he should knock. It wasn't a lie to say he was in the area, just because he had decided to patrol around this area as it got closer to seven did NOT make it any less true. Breathing in quickly, Tenmar steeled his resolve and knocked on the front door, feeling slightly silly as he did so. Why was it that he could kill a hundred men without even the slightest hesitation, but he couldn't even knock on Iruka's front door without feeling a slight rush of terror?  
  
"Hai, hai..." Kakashi's voice called as he yanked the door open. He hoped whoever it was had a good reason for disturbing him, he was about to join Iruka for his 'quick' bath. Iruka wouldn't appreciate it at first, but Kakashi was sure it would only take a little 'persuasion' to make his lover accept it. It was for that reason that Kakashi opened the door wearing only a pair of pants and the skin tight upper body/face covering shirt he always wore under the rest of his ninja gear.  
  
Tenmar found himself blushing slightly. It wasn't that obvious with all the clothing Kakashi usually wore, but the man before him was actually rather... attractive. For a brief moment he toyed with the idea of pulling Kakashi's mask down to see the man's full face, but then he shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. He put a sheepish grin on his face, "I was walking in the area, so... I thought I'd stop by to see if Iruka was ready to head over to Sasuke's house for our training."  
  
Kakashi sighed, a mixture of amusement and annoyance flowing through him. Part of his wanted to kill the younger man for interrupting his 'Iruka time' and the other half of him was amused by the way the Tenmar's eyes had traveled down his body and the bright blush covering his face. Humor won out and Kakashi stepped aside, "Come on in, kid. Iruka's in the bath right now. I'll just go tell him you're here-"  
  
Kakashi's words were cut off as Tenmar desperately grabbed at his hand to stop him. "That's OK! I can wait for him to finish up."  
  
Kakashi grinned underneath his mask, raising his visible eyebrow. "What? It's not like it'd be the first time I've seen him naked, you know. We ARE living togeth-"  
  
Once again Tenmar cut Kakashi off, waving his hands wildly. "I don't want to hear about it!" He said with urgency in his voice. He sighed, slouching his shoulders as Kakashi began to laugh. "Sorry. I know for some unknown reason Iruka and you are together, (not that I get what he sees in you...). However, I have NO interest in hearing about it." He could see Kakashi still ginning through the cloth mask and blushed an even deeper red.  
  
"You seem like a nice enough guy, kid, so I'm going to make this quite clear for you; as long as Iruka wants me I'm not going anywhere. Got it?" He crossed his arms, still grinning. He couldn't help it, much like Naruto, there was an air about Tenmar that made Kakashi just feel good, relaxed, happy... Not enough to let the brat steal his Iruka away, but enough to kind of enjoy his company.  
  
Tenmar was saved from having to respond by Iruka appearing in the doorway. "Am I interrupting something or are you done with the pissing contest?" He had a sweet smile on his face, but both men could tell he was at least somewhat irked.  
  
"Iruka-san! Good afternoon!" Tenmar was immediately on his feet. "I-I was just in the area and wanted to walk with you to Sasuke's house!"  
  
Shaking his head, Iruka grabbed his bag, still full of papers, kissed Kakashi lightly on the cheek and walked quickly from the house, Tenmar following closely behind. "Can I carry that bag for you, Iruka-san?"  
  
"It's not that heavy."  
  
Kakashi smiled as they faded into the distance. He DID trust Iruka. Unconditionally, in fact. But that did NOT mean that he was eager to let some young good looking guy fawn all over him. He frowned as he realized that his secret plan to steal more Iruka time had been ruined. Well, it was about time he went to check on his students anyway, right? He'd start with Sakura, so he didn't look like he was just checking up on Iruka.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto grinned as he sank into the bath. After a LONG struggle Naruto had finally managed to convince Sasuke to let him alone so he could bathe. It was going to be a problem if they couldn't keep their hands off each other long enough to DO anything in the day. He knew this was just how early relationships went and he should enjoy it while it lasted... It would only be a matter of time before Sasuke's interest in the physical aspects of the relationship tampered off a bit. If Naruto did things right he would never COMPLETELY loose interest, but when it happened they would have to resort to talking.... Now THAT sounded painful. No matter how much Naruto cared for Sasuke and no matter how much more talkative he had become towards the blonde in the recent days, this was STILL Sasuke they were talking about.  
  
Thinking of painful... There was going to be a major problem when they actually DID decide to go the next step. Sasuke had control issues and Naruto was having trouble imagining what sex would be like with someone like that. Especially because when he got REALLY excited he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from being the one to...  
  
Shaking his head, Naruto emerged himself in the bath water. It was WAY too early to worry about this kind of crap. They would figure it out when they got to it. That was at least three or four years away, right? Three or four years... It was going to be a LONG three years, best thing to do was just not think about it, right?  
  
Naruto popped his head back over the water and suddenly felt a strong pair of hands grabbing his back. "Sasuke! What the hell're you doing? I thought you were going to take a bath AFTER me!"  
  
"Sasuke?" A teasing voice replied. Naruto spun around to find himself staring strait into a pair of mischievous blue eyes. "Geeze Daddy, someone randomly grabs you in the bath and you automatically assume its Sasuke-kun? Sounds like you guys are getting pretty intense, eh?" Uzu nudged his father playfully as he sunk into the bath next to him.  
  
Naruto grinned at his second eldest, "What about you? You've been out with Shikamaru all day now. Just coming home for dinner?"  
  
Uzu grinned back, "Well, I'm at least an adult, that's more than can be said for you, Daddy."  
  
"More than can be said for Shikamaru, too."  
  
Uzu mock glared at his father, hitting the water so that it sprayed Naruto face and head.  
  
"Little punk!" Naruto hollered, grabbing Uzu by the hair and dragging him under the water. "Respect your father!"  
  
Uzu grabbed Naruto's hand and carefully flipped him over, reversing their situations. "Respect your elders!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Ganten demanded, suddenly whacking Uzu on the back of the head. "And let Daddy come up for breath."  
  
"Where'd YOU come from?" Uzu demanded releasing his father as his younger brother also sunk down into the bath.  
  
"I just got back. You two were making enough noise to wake the dead and Sasuke was starting to grumble what he was going to do to both of you if you ruined his bath." Ganten gave both his older brother and father a contemptuous look. "You should both act more your age, you don't see Mina or Sasuke wrestling in the bath or spraying water everywhere, do you?"  
  
Naruto and Uzu exchanged a meaningful look, then both simultaneously leaning back as if they were relaxing. Suddenly both sprang up from the water, grabbing Ganten's head, the two thrust him underneath the water. "Hee hee, this'll teach him not to talk back to his father."  
  
Uzu nodded, "Had enough, little brother?" He asked as they let the white haired boy come up for breath.  
  
"Teme..." Ganten glared at the two, crossing his arms. "I refuse to resort to such childish acts of-" His words were cut short as Uzu, laughing like a maniac, sent a large spray of water into Ganten's face. "Oh, now you're asking for it!"  
  
Ten minutes later Sasuke, who had been sitting as patiently as he could outside, finally felt the need to stick his head into the room as he heard yet ANOTHER crashing noise. "Alright, what's going on in... here?" He looked around. His bathroom was... ruined. Water was everywhere. Not just one the floor but the walls, curtains and ceiling were all dripping. The soap was broken and pieces of it were scattered sporadically around the room. The curtain on one of the windows was torn half way off. All of the towels were soaking wet and lying in a heap on the floor. In the center of the room stood a naked Uzu, under his right arm was a naked Ganten and under his left arm was a very naked Naruto.  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto squeaked out, quickly pushing himself out from underneath Uzu's arm. "We were just..."  
  
Sasuke stormed up to the blonde boy, eyes dark and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him towards the door. He turned and spared a glare for Uzu and Ganten, who were both biting their lips in order to avoid bursting out laughing. "Don't leave until this room is at least somewhat presentable. We can talk about replacing the curtains and anything else that may have been broken when you're done." With that said he half dragged half carried Naruto out of the room.  
  
Uzu and Ganten glanced at each other, waiting until the sound of Sasuke's footsteps faded away to bust out laughing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ah, my head..." Sakura moaned as her eyes slowly opened. "Where am I?"  
  
"Welcome to my world, little one." Sakura's head spun to stare in terror at a large dark moving mass of shadows. In the center stood a tall man, face hidden by darkness. "Don't worry..." The voice growled. Sakura screamed in pain as one of the shadows dashed up and clamped its teeth down on her hand. The pain increased as the wolf moved, forcing her to walk closer to the tall shadow man. "We aren't going to kill you yet... We want to play with you first."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *glancing anxiously over shoulder then back at readers* Well, did you like it? *glancing BACK over shoulders again*  
  
Naruto: wow! You're back! It's been so long! What happened to you? I thought maybe Sakura killed you or something...  
  
Psychic King: *holding hand over Naruto's mouth* Shush! She'll hear you...  
  
Naruto: *lowering voice* So, where have you been, hiding out from Sakura- chan, eh?  
  
Psychic King: *whispering* I couldn't get online... It was terrible. I've never felt so lost in my whole life...  
  
Naruto: *nodding sympathetically* Yeah, you're a interne junkie, too...  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* If it hadn't been for two things I probably would have gone completely insane.  
  
Naruto: *getting interested* what where they?  
  
Psychic King: ... Well, first off I just got a whole lot of new shonen ai and yaoi manga... *blushing*  
  
Naruto: Pervert.  
  
Psychic King: *sill blushing* Tee hee, just because I can't write it does NOT mean that I don't love it.....  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* what was the other thing?  
  
Psychic King: *brightening* My dear sweet friend has been giving me copies of a cool new anime! Well, new for me at least... *sigh* One Piece.... Luffy-sama is SO COOL.... *sigh*  
  
Sakura: *suddenly latching on to Psychic King* You won't escape again... Not THIS time... *pulls out a whip* Now we have a few things to talk about, don't you think? *cracks the whip, cackling evilly*  
  
Psychic King: reaching to Naruto* Please... Help me.... (Oh, and I promise I'll update REAL soon this time, promise!!!! Now that the internet is back I'm so happy!) 


	14. Embrace of Searching

Psychic King: *smiling encouragingly at the readers* Well, as promised, this chapter is a lot quicker than the last one, ne? Ne? So you all forgive me for the last one taking so long, right?????  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* Nope, they all hate you. They want you to quit writing.  
  
Psychic King: *crying* I see... So it's hopeless, then.....  
  
Uzu: *smacking Sakura lightly on the head* don't say that! *turning towards Psychic King and wrapping a comforting arm around her* She's not telling the truth, Psychic King-sama! They all have been very kind and understanding about everything, really. See? *holds up the reviews*  
  
Psychic King: *burying her face in Uzu's chest* really? I feel so uncertain of myself suddenly... Maybe I should stop writing...  
  
Naruto, Tenmar, Kakashi, and Iruka all walk by taking amongst themselves.  
  
Naruto: *walking up to Psychic King* What's wrong?  
  
Uzu: *Patting her on the head* Ah, she seems to have lost some of her confidence...  
  
Tenmar: *sounding worried* That's not like the Psychic King I know... *Pats Psychic King's head*  
  
Psychic King: *crying even harder, nestling head in Tenmar's chest*  
  
Naruto: Don't quit writing! Sasuke was just about to play with my naked- I mean, your fans would be disappointed!  
  
Psychic King: *still crying, glomps onto Naruto* Oh, Naruto! Do you really think so?  
  
Iruka: *smiling encouragingly* I'm sure you're fine! And I'm not just saying that because of the implied moments I had with Kakashi last chapter!  
  
Psychic King: *Buries head in Iruka's chest, then Kakashi's* Thanks guys... *wiping tears from eyes* I don't know what I'd do without you all...  
  
Men: *all walk off feeling good about themselves for cheering Psychic King up*  
  
Sakura: *staring, mouth open at Psychic King* You did NOT just use fake tears so that you could feel up all of them, did you? You would NOT do such a demoralizing thing to yourself, would you?  
  
Psychic King: *grinning* WHAT? It was just a quick glomp, no biggie! It's not like I was grabbing their asses... although now that you mention it, that IS a good idea...  
  
Sakura: *glaring* I don't want to hear about your sick fantasies...  
  
Psychic King: *pondering* Now HOW can I get Sasuke and Ganten to let me hug them... Ah... The other guys were easy, men are so weak to tears... But Sasuke and Ganten are both a little different...  
  
Sakura: *smacks Psychic King on head* Leave Sasuke OUT of it! And remember our little deal. You make Sasuke give up on Naruto this chapter or I'll have to kill you...  
  
Psychic King: *backing away* right... kill me... Ano... *points off screen* Isn't that Sasuke taking off his shirt?  
  
Sakura: *jumping up* Where, where??? *runs off*  
  
Psychic King: *happily smiling, wraps arms around herself and breathes in* Ah... Men smell SO nice..... Hum.... *looking at readers* Anyway, no fear! I'm not really giving Sasuke to Sakura! I just wanted to get her off my back while I wrote this chapter... A few pre chapter notes.... I don't own Naruto or his friend, sadly... But not completely unexpectedly, right? Also, please enjoy this chapter! Send me your comments and criticisms, OK?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 14  
  
"Oi! Sasuke, I'm not dressed!" Naruto hollered as the dark haired boy dragged him down the hall. "What if Mina or Sakura were to walk by?"  
  
"Shut up." Sasuke replied, face blank. He pulled open the door to Naruto's bedroom, throwing Naruto onto the bed.  
  
Naruto blushed, trying to cover his exposed body quickly with his hands. "Pervert! What do you think Uzu and Ganten'll think since you left them to clean up the bathroom and dragged me off without even letting me get dressed?" He stuck out his tong, giving up on covering his body with his hands, he settled for pulling his blanket over his head and huddling underneath it.  
  
Sasuke stood for a moment, staring at the moving ball of blanket. Naruto's head popped out from the top to stare back when he heard the click of Sasuke closing the bedroom door. Sasuke moved purposefully closer to the blonde idiot, face still blank. His hand wandered down, grabbing the blanket and tugging.  
  
Naruto shook his head, clinging to the blanket as if his life depended on it. "Stop it, Sasuke-pervert!"  
  
"Calm down!" The dark haired boy responded, continuing with his attempts to tug away the blanket. Naruto's response was to cling to the blankets even tighter. Eyes darkening Sasuke raised his fist, as if about to hit the blonde.  
  
Naruto's whole attitude changed as Sasuke's fist went up. Throwing back the blanket he jumped to his feet, standing on the bed he took a fighting stance. "You wanna fight, bastard?"  
  
Sasuke smirked and Naruto realized a moment too late that this was probably the reaction he had been hoping for. He slunk back down to a sitting position, reaching for the blanket, but Sasuke had already grabbed it and thrown it a decent distance away. His eyes were... probing. The blonde gulped. "What? Don't look at me like that, pervert!"  
  
Sasuke ignored the blonde's words, running his hand thoughtfully over Naruto's chest. "You and Uzu look a lot alike..."  
  
Naruto's eyebrows shot up. "What the hell're you saying? Keep my children out of your sick fantasies!"  
  
An annoyed sound escaped Sasuke's lips, but his face remained unreadable. "I was just thinking that you still have some growing to do." He growled in frustration. WHY did it suddenly matter so much to him what the dobe was going to look like when he got older, anyway? But after seeing Naruto and Uzu standing side by side like that, he was having a hard time just getting the mental image of Naruto's head on Uzu's body.  
  
"Oh..." Naruto relaxed as he realized what Sasuke was getting at. "Yeah, we look alike. Tenmar, too. Not that either of them are exactly what I looked like before..." He grinned as an idea hit him. "You really curious what I'm gonna look like in ten years?" He didn't wait for a response; in Sasuke's mind being asked something like that was like telling a normal person to stop asking stupid questions. So, instead Naruto quickly performed the Henge no Jutsu.  
  
Sasuke's mouth fell open. Before him was Naruto, in every way this person looked like him except he was... huge. Standing well over six foot tall, if Sasuke had to guess, and broad shouldered, but thin. It looked like he was nothing but skin muscle and bone. The transformed Naruto was still wearing Naruto's normal grin, but on this more mature face it looked more dangerous and... Sensual...  
  
Forgetting momentarily that he was completely naked, adult Naruto jumped from the bed to stand in the middle of the room, waiting for inspection. "This is what I looked like right before... you know." He put his hands on his hips. "What do you think?"  
  
A slight blush found its way across Sasuke's face. Sasuke no longer had any question of if Naruto's skin was so dark all across his body... There wasn't a pale patch of skin anywhere. With out thinking about what he was doing Sasuke started walking around the blonde, appraising. The first thing Sasuke noticed about Naruto's back was the long thin braid of hair he had running down his neck. Following the path of the braid Sasuke's eyes wandered to his back and then even further down. His eyes widened as he realized that even his ASS was pure muscle.  
  
Sasuke was torn. Part of him found this very arousing; the rest of him was annoyed. Naruto was going to get tall; if genetics were any indication Sasuke would stop growing at LEAST half a foot shorter. There was no way he was going to get as wide, either. Walking back around to the front Sasuke glanced down with some small degree of embarrassment. Apparently Naruto's whole body was in for a major growth spurt. Sasuke wasn't sure, but he guessed that Naruto was going to be bigger in THAT area, too. Suddenly all those times he jumped on Naruto took on another meaning.  
  
"Oi, Sasuke?" Naruto blushed as Sasuke continued staring down. He was beginning to wonder if this hadn't been such a great idea. Especially since his body was responding to Sasuke's intense stare.  
  
Sasuke nodded, making up his mind and grabbed the huge man, pushing him onto the bed. Even if he was smaller he was STILL going to remain in control of their relationship. He felt the urge to assert that fact now, before Naruto really was that big. "Shut up." He responded, lowering his mouth onto the blonde's. It felt different, kissing Naruto while he was so big. He decided he wasn't even going to TRY to straddle the man; it wasn't that he didn't think it would be possible, but it would definitely be less comfortable until he was around the same size.  
  
Naruto felt his body respond to Sasuke's demanding kisses even as his mind froze in shock. He wasn't expecting THIS, he was still naked! And he was loosing control of himself... A groan escaped his lips as Sasuke's leg inadvertently rubbed against him. He raised his hand, intent on pushing the boy off. This was NOT right. But he found his treacherous body wrapped the arm around the boy, pulling him closer...  
  
"Naruto-sama! Iruka sensei was wondering if you could help him demonstrate-" Both Naruto and Sasuke froze in horror the sound of Tenmar's voice followed by the sound of the door opening reached their ears. They turned their heads to see Iruka and Tenmar, faces red, standing in the doorway.  
  
A hint of spiky red hair behind them followed by an exclamation of, "Oh shit!" And then there was the sound of fast scurrying away as the spiky red hair disappeared, the sound of muffled laughter fading with it.  
  
Iruka ace turned even redder, as he allowed his eyes to travel completely across the scene before him and suddenly he felt a trickle of blood dripping down his face. This was too much.  
  
With a 'pop' and a puff of smoke Naruto's Jutsu vanished, leaving one red faced (but still undressed) Naruto and one ferociously angry looking Sasuke to continue staring. Finally Sasuke took the initiative to move first, jumping from his position on top of the blonde to firmly push the two men out of the room and slam the door.  
  
Iruka and Uzu stared at each other for a long moment then looked back at the door. Iruka recovered from his shock first, wiping away the trickle of blood from his nose he pounded on the door, "Naruto! Put some clothes on and get out here RIGHT NOW! You get out here too, Sasuke!"  
  
Tenmar turned and glanced in the direction his brother had run off to, "Uzu! Get your sorry butt out here, too! I want to see all three of you in the living room NOW!"  
  
Ganten walked by, soaking towels in his arms. "What's going on?"  
  
Tenmar glanced at his youngest brother, sighing. "You're not old enough." He said flatly, glaring.  
  
Ganten's eyes widened a bit at his brother's declaration, he WAS older than both their father and Sasuke, after all. But looking at his brother's angry face he felt it best not to press the subject. "I'll just take these to the laundry and then get something started for dinner..." He replied, quickly walking down the hall.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakashi sighed as he jumped away from Sakura's house. Her mother said she hadn't been there all day. Was she still at Sasuke's for some reason? He could have sworn that Uzu had walked both her and Shikamaru home early that day. Her mother hadn't seemed THAT worried, saying something like, "As soon as they become Ninja they loose all respect for their parents wishes, you know how children can be..." But that did not stop him from feeling some degree of worry. He picked up his speed as he moved towards the Uchiha mansion. He had wanted to give Iruka some more time, but this was an emergency.  
  
As he rushed from roof top to roof top he noticed a girl with long red hair standing in the street below him. For a quick moment he thought he had found her, but when he landed in front of the girl he realized it was only Naruto's daughter, Mina.  
  
Mina jumped back in surprise as Kakashi landed lightly in the road in front of her. "Kakashi-san!" She exclaimed pulling the dark shawl she was wearing closer around herself, trying to hide as much as she could behind it.  
  
"Mina, have you seen Sakura-chan at all today?" Kakashi asked, urgency in his voice.  
  
Mina quickly shook her head. "Not since Uzu went to take her home. Is something wrong?" She asked quietly. She could feel urgency practically radiating off the tall silver haired man.  
  
Kakashi shook his head, already turning and racing towards Sasuke's house again. "I hope not."  
  
"Did you go to her house?" Mina asked, jumping next to Kakashi.  
  
The silver haired man allowed himself a moment to look at the girl in surprise as he dashed onward. She was keeping up with his top speed so easily; did these four really need Ninja training? "Yeah, her mother said she hadn't been home all day. Shit! With that bastard's flunkies wandering around... She better be with Sasuke and Naruto."  
  
Mina nodded quietly.  
  
As soon as they reached the house Kakashi wrenched the front door open, storming in. His eyes widened as he saw Iruka standing in an intimidating manner over Sasuke and Naruto. "I thought you were training Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina..." He questioned, forgetting momentarily his urgency.  
  
Iruka turned and glanced at Kakashi, sighing. "Kakashi, do you know what these two were doing?" Without waiting for an answer he threw up his hands and continued. "They were naked on top of each other, kissing!"  
  
"Oi!" Sasuke hollered, "That has nothing to do with ANY of you, so just shut up about it."  
  
Iruka shot Sasuke a glare that told him if he valued his life he would stop talking and listen. Then he sent a begging glance towards his lover. Sasuke respected Kakashi; he would listen if Kakashi told him it was a bad idea to go so far while they were young. To his absolute horror Kakashi seemed to be laughing quietly. Iruka's face turned dark.  
  
"Sorry love, but I agree with Sasuke-kun on this. If they are old enough to be risking their lives for the village than they are certainly old enough to do what they want with their bodies." Kakashi walked up to the boys and put a serious tone in his voice, placing a hand on both boys' shoulders. "Just don't let Sakura-chan catch you or you will really be putting your lives on the line-"  
  
Iruka smacked his lover hard in the back of the head, but Kakashi's mind had snapped back to what he originally had rushed here for. "Speaking of Sakura-chan, is she here?" A worried feeling rushed through him as he watched everyone shake their heads, faces blank.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ow." Sakura rubbed her head. She was starting to get used to waking up in extreme pain. It was dark now. She must have been passed out for a few hours. She had been abducted and brought here... The last thing she remembered was that huge man slapping her when she kicked the wolf that bit through her hand. She looked down, her hand was still bleeding; she was going to have permanent scars, assuming she lived long enough to have it heal. Tearing at the edge of her shirt she made a quick make-shift bandage, wrapping her hand securely.  
  
She glanced around when she finished. There were two large wolves standing at the mouth of the cave she was in, but she couldn't see or sense any other guards. She smiled. They were underestimating her if they thought that only two wolves would hold her in.  
  
"I wouldn't think of running, if I were you, little one." A male voice called from right behind her. Sakura spun, but there was no one. "No, Kentaar-sama has plans for YOU." This time the voice came from her right, she spun again, but again there was nothing. Suddenly there was the feeling of a hand grasping around her neck, chocking the breath from her body, but she still couldn't see or sense anyone. "It would be a shame to have to kill you before Kentaar-sama gets to play with you a little." This time the sound came from directly in front of her. Struggling wildly, she kicked and waved her arms, but they came in contact with nothing. Laughter flooded the cave, coming from every direction around her as the feeling of being choked faded.  
  
Sakura fell to the ground in a heap. "Shut up! I'd rather die than let some freak wolf-man use me to hurt my friends!" Sakura felt a sharp rock underneath her hand and grabbed it quickly. They weren't going to use HER to destroy Konoha, not to hurt Sasuke and Naruto either.  
  
"Tsk..." The voice replied. Sharp pain rushed through Sakura's entire body and she released the rock. "Don't be so quick to die, little one. I TOLD you, Kentaar-sama has plans for you. If you play your cards right you might get to live as his pet."  
  
"Go to hell!" Sakura screamed, sobbing. The pain slowly subsided, but she remained curled in a ball. The corner of her eye caught the vague outline of a man, and she moved her head to glare at him. This simple action consumed what was left of her energy; she no longer had enough strength to even sit up.  
  
"Still defiant? Maybe I should break you in before Kentaar-sama wants to play with you. He won't be happy if you resist him so much." The man walked closer and Sakura was able to make out some characteristics. She wasn't that sure if he was a tall man or not as she was lying on the ground and feeling rather disoriented, but she could tell he was large, a wild, feral look was in his eyes, his teeth looked more like fangs... and his hair (if it could really be called that, it looked more like fur) was gray and brown and coarse looking and it long and stuck out at odd angels. He didn't look like an old man, so Sakura was left to guess as to why. He looked like a wolf...  
  
He smiled and Sakura could see that his eyes were a bright yellow. He lowered his hand towards her and she noticed that his nails were long, hard and black. Sakura made a disgusted face and mustered enough energy to roll a small distance away. The small distance was nothing to the strange man, reaching a little further his callused hand ran softly against her cheek. Sakura closed her eyes, this was NOT happening, it was a dream, a night mare. When she opened her eyes it would all be gone, right?  
  
A loud noise from the mouth of the cave had Sakura snapping her eyes open; there was some one standing there. The man above her moved his hand from her face as if he had been burned. Then he laughed a deep, cold, heatless laugh. Sakura closed her eyes wishing she couldn't hear the inhuman sound. "Shit, Rin, you shouldn't surprise a guy like that."  
  
The man at the front of the cave disappeared suddenly, reappearing between Sakura her attacker. "Don't touch it."  
  
"Don't touch what? I wasn't gonna damage her or anything, I was just- "  
  
The new man, Rin, shoved the other man away. "I said don't touch it! This THING belongs to Kentaar-sama." He shot a disgusted glare towards Sakura.  
  
Sakura's head was spinning again, her eyes were blurring and she was having trouble keeping them open. Maybe... just for a moment she would close them... that should be alright...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"What do you mean 'is Sakura-chan here?'" Naruto asked, eyes narrowing. "She went home with Uzu and Shikamaru this morning."  
  
Tenmar and Uzu came walking into the room, Uzu's face was red and he looked guiltily at Sasuke and Naruto. "Heh, sorry Daddy, Sasuke... I didn't think you'd be doing THAT when I told Tenmar and Iruka to go check on you..." When Tenmar shoved at his brother's shoulder he added sheepishly, "At least not naked, you know?"  
  
"I WAS NOT NAKED!" Sasuke demanded, glaring daggers at everyone in the room.  
  
Naruto ignored both Uzu's apology and Sasuke's indignation, "Uzu, you walked Sakura-chan home this morning, right? I saw you leave with her and Shikamaru."  
  
Uzu nodded, relieved that the rooms attention seemed to have been shifted from his little joke. "Yeah, but it was really strange, we got the whole way to her house and she ran off saying she forgot to do something. Why do you ask?"  
  
"She never made it home today." Kakashi replied crossing his arms and leaning against the wall; it was turning out to be another one of those nights... Damn wolves must be nocturnal creatures.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered the flash of pink he had seen earlier that day out his window. He assumed it was nothing then, but he was starting to wonder... He dashed out of the house, jumping easily up into the tree outside his room. He sniffed, it smelled like... "TENMAR!"  
  
The blonde man was out the door and up the tree next to Naruto in an instant, "What is it Naruto-sama?"  
  
"I haven't used my nose like you do in a long time; can you smell her, too?"  
  
Tenmar sniffed, there was definitely a faint sent of something in the air. Leaning down he placed his nose on the bark of the tree that smelled the strongest. "She leaned against the tree here and then..." Tenmar placed his hands on the bark following where the scent took him, imitating the moves the scent told him the girl had made. "She stood here, like this, probably looking down into your bedroom window, then..." he looked up towards the east side of the town. "She ran that way. It feels like she was in quite a hurry, very upset..."  
  
As he watched his oldest son, the memories of how to use those parts of his body returned to him and he too looked towards the east, smelling the girl's anger, her sorrow. "Shit!" He landed, face serious he looked at Sasuke. "She saw us."  
  
Sasuke's face took on an annoyed look, he rolled his eyes. "Who hasn't?"  
  
Naruto glared at the dark haired boy. Why was the normally stoic boy's sense of humor surfacing NOW? "She was probably upset about it; she does have a crush on you, after all!"  
  
A look of surprise crossed Sasuke's face, "She does?"  
  
"WHY do you think she spent so much time following you around? Why do you think she treated me like something gross?" Naruto was practically screaming, HOW could Sasuke not have noticed this? She was his TEAMMATE! How could he have missed something so obvious from someone he spent so much time with?  
  
Sasuke shrugged. He never really paid much attention to Sakura, and could never really understand why Naruto did. She was so annoying, really.  
  
"Naruto-sama, this conversation would perhaps be better to continue after we've found Sakura-chan, don't you think?" Tenmar interjected, "My hold on her scent will only last so long."  
  
Kakashi nodded, putting a hand on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders. "You two wait here this time. Tenmar, Uzu and I will go look for Sakura."  
  
"Like hell." Naruto replied, dashing into the house to return a moment later with his orange sweater and Sasuke's blue over shirt. "We're both going."  
  
"That's an order, Naruto." Kakashi responded in his bored tone, noticing that Ganten and Mina were both getting ready to go, too. "Don't make me..." He trailed off as Tenmar's stance changed slightly, moving between Kakashi and Naruto.  
  
"You'll what, Kakashi-san?" Tenmar asked, head quirked slightly to the side, small smile playing on his lips. "You weren't about to threaten Naruto-sama, where you?"  
  
Kakashi sighed, this guy was seriously gonna try to hurt him if he threatened Naruto. "Never mind, just don't hold us up, got it kids?"  
  
Naruto grinned and Sasuke glared up at him. Iruka sighed. "I'll just wait here alone again in case she shows up, then, shall I?" This was his fate, Iruka realized. He was going to spend the rest of his life waiting around 'just in case' while his lover, students and friends ran off to save the world.  
  
Tenmar and Kakashi simultaneously nodded, then turned cold looks to each other. Tenmar looked at his father, siblings, Kakashi and Sasuke. "Alright, I've got a good lock on her scent, so we should be able to find her assuming she wasn't captured. Uzu, your better at this than I am, so make sure you pick up on her scent, too, just in case I loose it. If she was captured we should head back here to get some reinforcements before we go try to take on Kentaar's whole pack, agreed?"  
  
Uzu shook his head, "We don't have time for that! She could already be dead AND the trail might disappear if we don't hurry."  
  
Naruto's face darkened. "IF he's planning on killing her than she's already dead, if not she's being kept alive for my benefit; they won't kill her until I see her. Of course..." He closed his eyes, saying a slight prayer to whatever god would listen, "There are some things worse than death."  
  
Tenmar nodded, and the group was dashing off as quickly as they could go.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *looking eagerly at readers* OK, OK.... What did you think? I just want to let you all know; I have NO plans on letting Sakura die at this point. She's just being held captive so that they can use her to... *grins* I ain't telling.  
  
Sasuke: *storms up* WHY do we get interrupted EVERY time? You love teasing me, don't you?  
  
Psychic King: *raising an eyebrow* I DID mention that you were too young for sex, right?  
  
Sasuke: KAKASHI even said it was OK.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* Yeah, but Kakashi doesn't hold your sex life in the palm of his hand, does he? *grins* So be nice. *pats Sasuke's head*  
  
Sasuke: *glaring* And what was this Naruto said about you glomping onto him today..?  
  
Psychic King: *backing away* Ano... I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't glomp onto anyone, especially not while crying fake tears and pretending to be in a slump!  
  
Sasuke: Bastard!  
  
Psychic King: Well, actually, I'm a girl so it would be-  
  
Sakura: *suddenly appearing* Bitch!  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* yeah, that.  
  
Sakura: *advancing menacingly on Psychic King* You SAID you'd have them break up, you SAID Sasuke could be mine... WHAT'S WITH THAT NAKED MAKE OUT SCENE??????????????  
  
Sasuke: *glaring at Psychic King* Oh yeah? You said that, huh? *begins advancing on Psychic King as well*  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* Now, hold on! I was just trying to get Sakura off my back so I could write the next chapter!  
  
Sakura: Oh REALLY? *eyes narrowing* And why was I left in the hands of those freaky wolf people while everyone else was running around having fun? That guy almost violated me!!!  
  
Psychic King: *still backing away* ALMOST being the key word there, right? I mean, you were saved by Rin so it's OK, right?  
  
Sakura: WRONG!  
  
Psychic King: *turns and suns away*  
  
Sakura and Sasuke: *finally doing something together, chase after Psychic King*  
  
Psychic King: *appearing when Sakura and Sasuke disappear off screen* Whoo... They almost caught me... *looking at readers* OK, I just wanted to say a few things before I went back to running for my life... First off, I NEED SOME HELP!!!! I am having a REAL hard time coming up with names for the flunkies... I need at least two more male names... I don't care if you e-mail me or leave it in a review, but please give me some help! Just as a warning, however, I MIGHT not choose the name everyone sends (I might not choose any of them, either, if I get inspired before I get any suggestions) just a warning, so don't feel offended if I don't choose your name, OK? My e-mail address is Psychic_King@hotmail.com  
  
*continuing* Also, I've gotten another offer for fan art, well, all I can say is, YEAH. If you want to feel free, just e-mail me if you need any information! And send me a copy of the picture when your done (my e-mail is above). I'll even post it if you don't mind (although I need a web page to post things... I'm getting to it, a web page is on my to-do list).  
  
*continuing* About the Tenmar Iruka action... I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it to Kakashi... But If I don't I PROMISE to make it up to Tenmar, honest!  
  
Um... I would like to add that I have recently been reading a WHOLE LOT of yaoi doujin/manga and I am not sure, but I think it's making me... A little more aggressive in certain aspects of my writing... I'm not trying to tease you all though! I promise I'll give you some sort of hot and heavy romance scene before the end of the fic! Scouts honor! (not that I was ever a scout, but... I still have honor, really!)  
  
AND, last but certainly not least, PLEASE keep up the reviews! *smiling and waving* Bye for now! Have a great day! Make good choices! (I heard that in a movie... or was it TV? Anyway, I liked it, so... Yeah, make good choices, OK?) 


	15. Embrace of Searching Part II

Psychic King: *looking to readers* Hi everyone! How's it going? I've got a special treat for all of you today as a thanks to everyone that sent me in some recommendations for names! I just want to take this time to say THANK YOU! Also, I wanted to say that I got a lot of great names, but I got more than I could possibly use! So I chose a few (and I came up with one or two on my own after I started writing the chapter...). I'll list the names I chose at the end of the chapter, in case you missed anything! Anyway, as I mentioned, I DO have a surprise for you, so... One second... *walks off screen and comes back on, yanking male characters with her*  
  
Male characters: *all dressed up in business suits*  
  
Psychic King: *grinning* I had them get all dressed up, now I KNOW you can't SEE it, but at least I figured you'd appreciate the thought, ne?  
  
Uzu: *loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top shirt button* I still don't know why they'd like to see us in these things anyway.  
  
Psychic King: *rolling eyes* It's for my readers! Girls always love seeing a guy in a suit, right? *blushing* Well, even if THEY don't I do! *blushing even brighter as Shikamaru and Naruto both loosen THEIR ties and unbutton their top shirt button* Ah... Heaven...  
  
Naruto: *going a step further and rolling up his sleeves* this thing is uncomfortable as heck and hard to move in, too. Why would anyone WANT to wear one?  
  
Psychic King: *still blushing* Hum? Oh... I guess 'cause it looks good...  
  
Sakura: *walks on stage* Hey guys... *notices the suits* Ah, um... *blushes*  
  
Psychic King: See, Sakura likes it, too.  
  
Sasuke: *pulls suit coat off and unbuttons suit vest* Why am I the only one that had to wear a vest?  
  
Psychic King: *looking around* Now, that's not true, I made Gaara-chan wear one, too... Where IS Gaara-chan?  
  
Tenmar: *shaking head* Donno. Haven't seen him in a few chapters.  
  
Psychic King: *shrugging* I guess it can't be helped. Because I haven't had the exams start... If they started he would HAVE to be a more active character.  
  
Naruto: *suspiciously* Why?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* Not telling! I'm the only one that knows the future, got it? *looks at readers* Well, and probably most of them, too... But that's because they either read the manga or watch the anime! I, on the other hand, am psychic...  
  
Kakashi: *picking something up off the floor and reading* Naruto, episodes 69-71?  
  
Psychic King: *snatches it away* Well, OK... I read the manga and watch the anime, too... Anyway, rushing things along... *gesturing to the male characters, who are all stripping half out of their suits* I don't own these hot guys, well, I guess since I created them, I DO own Tenmar, Uzu and Ganten, not to mention Kentaar and his flunkies. But Naruto and the others, they belong to other people. *blushing* Watching them take parts of it off is my favorite part of making them dress up...  
  
Sakura: *nodding mutely*  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Sakura's eyes popped open, for the first time in a long while her head felt OK... Besides the pain in her hand her body felt fine, if not a little weaker than normal. "Thank God..." She muttered, relief filling her. She hadn't been taken advantage of while she slept.  
  
She sat up slowly, glancing around the cave. It was still dark out, but there was a small fire in the cave so it was very warm. She noticed that someone had placed a fur blanket over her as well and her hand had been re-bandaged. Someone was going through a lot of trouble to make sure she was alright. "Damned if I care..." Sakura muttered, "Just makes it easier for me to escape."  
  
There was a derisive snort, and then from the mouth of the cave walked the man that had protected her earlier. He threw her a disgusted glare and tossed a bundle at her feet. "Eat."  
  
"I'm not hungry." Sakura shot back, but even as she said it her stomach jumped at the idea of food. It had been almost 10 hours since her last meal, even though she was able to go much longer without food, the idea of eating was suddenly very appealing.  
  
The man's eyes flashed, but he made no move towards her. Instead he glared at her, contempt so clear in his eyes. "I wasn't asking."  
  
Sakura swallowed the lump that was rising in her throat as the man's hate-filled glare continued to bore into her and she grabbed the food. If they wanted to kill her they would have already done it, if they wanted her sedated they had other means to do it by; she was only hurting herself by refusing the food. The bundle was some sort of meat, burnt so badly that it was unrecognizable, but it was food all the same.  
  
The man lowered himself to a sitting position across the cave from Sakura. He wasn't looking at her, but Sakura had the distinct feeling that he focus was on her. He whistled and two wolves moved into the cave, both laying their heads in his lap, but positioned so that their yellow eyes were on her. Sakura purposefully looked away until she had eaten enough.  
  
When she finished the boy motioned to one of the wolves and it stepped forward. Sakura shrank back a bit in fear as the giant creature moved closer to her, but the creature ignored her, simply grabbing the remains of the food from the girl and taking it back to the boy. The boy patted the wolf as it brought him the scraps of what was left and the wolf curled peacefully back into the boys lap. The boy kept his eyes obstinately on the mouth of the cave, not even glancing at Sakura as she shifted to a more comfortable sitting position.  
  
Sakura found herself staring at the boy as he purposefully ignored her. He was young, probably only a few years older than she was, about 15 if she were to guess. That man from before had probably Tenmar's age, and yet he was scared of this boy; scared enough to leave her to his care. The boy didn't look like a vicious killer as he sat absently patting the two creatures in his lap. He had brown hair, and large brown eyes that held so much of his emotion. He didn't seem to be that tall, likewise he was not very broad, but his presence was so commanding, Sakura doubted that even someone like Kakashi-sensei could easily talk down to someone like him. He had the air of someone that was truly powerful.  
  
Sakura found herself comparing him to Sasuke. While both boys were aloof Sasuke was very cold, like ice. Very composed, very calculating, not caring about anything; Sasuke only ran hot when he was angry, annoyance was the most common emotion he showed. This boy was not cold; he was obviously very passionate, very caring and very angry. Every part of his being radiated a kind of energy, a heat. There were lines on his face, she noticed as she stared at him. They were the kind of lines her mother had, the lines Naruto had... Lines from excessive amounts of smiling and laughter... But that didn't make sense. Maybe he was sadistic and laughed whenever he killed something? That meant he must have spent most of his life killing, of course, because the lines were so pronounced. The scowl he was wearing didn't go with his face at all...  
  
Mustering her courage Sakura attempted to talk to the boy, "Your name's Rin, right? You're the one that saved me from that man..." She looked down, the boy still refused to look at her, to acknowledge her. "Th- thank you!" She bowed her head, even though she knew the boy wouldn't bothering looking. "For that and the meal-"  
  
"Don't misunderstand." The boy responded, still looking away. "I didn't save YOU, I was looking out for my master's interests."  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. "Even so..."  
  
"And thank the rabbit for your meal. It's the one that sacrificed the most." With that said he rose to his feet, walking back to the mouth of the cave. The wolves both followed leaving Sakura once again alone in the cave.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Here..." Tenmar said, strain in his voice. They had reached the very outskirts of Konoha, the only thing beyond was the city walls and the wild. "I've lost her..."  
  
Naruto and Uzu were both nodding, sniffing deeply. "I can smell her confusion, though..." Naruto said. "She obviously ran into something she wasn't expecting here but... I can't pick up on the scent of another person, but... There's SOMETHING in the air."  
  
"I don't see any signs of other people. I can see her foot prints, but no one else's. How do you know your right?" Sasuke said, slight annoyance in his voice. It bothered him that Naruto was talking about being able to smell emotions Sakura had over five hours ago.  
  
"Being part fox has some benefits," Uzu said, not really paying attention, he was walking towards Konoha's wall, sniffing deeply. "I think... Daddy, do you smell something here?"  
  
Naruto knelt down, walking slowly on his hands and feet, keeping his nose pressed close to the ground. There was something... A string of something else in the air, but he couldn't tell for sure what it was, or if it had anything to do with Sakura. But whatever it was had definitely jumped the wall right here... That shouldn't be possible for an animal.  
  
Uzu was following trait keeping his nose to the ground, when he reached the wall he jumped quickly, landing easily on the top. He whistled. "Well, whoever it is wasn't an average ninja... They almost completely have their scent covered, they were expecting someone with noses like ours to be tracking them. But I can follow it for now. If we wait any longer I don't think I'll be able to find it again..." He looked at Tenmar then his father and finally at Kakashi. "What are we going to do?"  
  
Kakashi sighed, jumping next to Uzu. "It can't be helped..." He glanced at Tenmar, "Someone needs to stay behind to tell Hokage-sama about all of this and..." Kakashi's visible eye widened, he suddenly looked like someone had punched him repeatedly in the chest. "Iruka!" He turned, moving as if to jump back down and race to his lover. How could he have been so stupid? They were collecting people Naruto cared about and he just left the one person that had been Naruto's only family completely unprotected in a large house in the middle of nowhere.  
  
Tenmar's face drained of its color; he clenched his hands into tight fists. "Kakashi... I'll go back, you guys should continue on. Even if they have taken this chance to grab Iruka, they won't send someone powerful enough to stick out too much. They WILL have extremely powerful people guarding their den, though. You are... stronger than I am, I can take care of whatever bastard they might send after Iruka, you just worry about keeping everyone else safe."  
  
Kakashi sighed, even though his heart was rebelling against it, his mind knew every word Tenmar said was true. "Fine, I'll leave his safety in your hands... for now."  
  
Tenmar nodded, glancing quickly at each of his siblings and his father and Sasuke. "I'll join up with you once everything's taken care of here..." He glanced at Kakashi, "Don't let anything happen to them." Then he jumped, running on both his hands and feet quickly back to Sasuke's house, to Iruka.  
  
Uzu quickly jumped down the tall wall, to the outside of the village and began sniffing deeply. "Shit, this little bastard's good... They landed somewhere else, it's gonna take me a second to..." He trailed off, deep in thought as he pressed his nose near the ground and started crawling away a bit.  
  
Sasuke sighed as he jumped down with Naruto and Ganten, an annoyed tinge to his voice as he asked them, "Why aren't you guys doing anything?"  
  
Naruto shook his head, shrugging. "I haven't used that part of my senses in a LONG time, I probably WOULD be better at it than Uzu as I'm less human, but..." He shrugged again and looked questioningly at Ganten.  
  
The white haired boy's face had taken a dark look and he replied with a little hesitation, "Uzu... Is used to certain things like that, he disappears for days at a time sometimes and lives with the local foxes. Anyway..." He muttered something that neither Sasuke nor Naruto could hear.  
  
"Huh?" Naruto asked, it had been something about Mina, he caught that, but WHAT his youngest son was trying to say was beyond him.  
  
"I said, 'Mina's a lot more powerful than the rest of us anyways.' Even though she looks the most like Mother, she's inherited more of your power than the rest of us, Naruto-sama. Uzu and Tenmar have a lot of raw power, too. I'm a lot weaker than the others when it comes to raw power. That means, out of the four of us, Mina has the most fox blood, followed by Uzu and Tenmar. I've got the least." Ganten's face was slightly pink as he talked, wither from embarrassment or anger at having to reveal his weakness, Naruto was not sure.  
  
"But..." Mina's hesitant voice added from behind them. Sasuke and Naruto both spun in surprise to see the girl standing right next to them, WHEN had she gotten there? "But... Ganten-niichan is a lot better at planning things than the rest of us, and he's better at using the power he has to its fullest. Our actions usually waste a lot of energy, so he's a lot more effective than we are." She offered her older brother a slight smile.  
  
Naruto grinned, folding his hands behind his head. "Eh, you must have gotten that from your mother. I've never been very good about conserving my power, either."  
  
"Daddy! Everyone! I found the trail!" Naruto, Sasuke, Ganten and Mina all jumped swiftly over to where Uzu was pointing.  
  
After a sparing another glance in the direction of Sasuke's house Kakashi finally jumped down from the wall and joined the others. "Lead the way."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Running as fast as his legs would carry him, Tenmar arrived at Sasuke's house in record time. Throwing the door open he dashed in, "Iruka! Iruka?" Tenmar dashed from room to room, but they were all empty. "Iruka, if you're here answer me!" He screamed desperately, but only silence answered him. "No..." He sank heavily to the floor. "Not now, not after Kakashi entrusted him to me."  
  
Jumping to his feet, Tenmar dashed outside. There had to be a trace of his scent, a trail, SOMETHING. He couldn't give up; this was Iruka, the man he loved. He would find a way to bring him back. He inhaled deeply, the scent of Iruka hung heavy in the air, and there WAS an anger to it... Was he really abducted? It didn't make sense; if he had been taken surely they would have erased his scent along with their own, right?  
  
Tenmar shook his head; he would worry about that later. He would FIND Iruka first, he could asses the situation after that. Another thing... He turned, away from the direction Iruka's scent lead him, praying that what he was about to do would not turn out to be a mistake that cost Iruka his life.  
  
Ten minutes later he was dashing away from Iruka and Kakashi's apartment, clutching in his hands two articles of clothing, one belonging to Iruka and the other Kakashi's. When Iruka's scent trail led him out side the village he knew he had not made a mistake in his detour. Without ceasing in his chase Tenmar performed a quick summoning seal. With a puff two large red fox appeared and jumped quickly to catch up with the man.  
  
"Oi! What do you want, Blondie?" The nearest fox asked.  
  
"Yeah, usually the idiot is the only one that calls us." The other added a sight irritable tone in its voice.  
  
Tenmar ignored them, tossing Iruka's clothing at the first fox and Kakashi's to the second. Once the both fox seemed to have gotten a good feel for the scents he continued. "Aidan, I want you to find the one called Hokage and tell him that Sakura-chan and Iruka have been captured by Kentaar and that the village is unsafe, then follow this scent and catch up with me. Kasai, following this scent will lead you to Uzu. Once you find them explain the situation and assist him, got it?"  
  
Both fox made an acknowledging grunt, faces serious. Kasai immediately dashed away already picking up the trail he needed to follow, but Aidan held back for a moment. "Kentaar... you're going after THAT monster..." It shook its head. "Tenmar, just watch yourself until I get there. Uzu'd have my hide if something happened to his big brother on my watch."  
  
Tenmar shot the fox a glare, "Just get moving."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Everything... Everything was going perfectly; the pieces were all falling into place. The twelve-year wait had been worth every moment. No, it had been much longer than that. His wait had been since the day that siren had entranced him, but now it was all coming to an end.  
  
Glancing at the sky, the man noticed that it was a full moon; it had been a full moon THAT night, too. There was something entrancing about it, something... A low growl escaped the man's lips. He could still taste that witch's blood, even after twelve years. He longed to taste it again, NEEDED to have it again and soon he would. Patience... Patience, only a few more hours until the moon reached its apex and then...  
  
"Kentaar-sama?" A low voice reached the man's ears. He turned his head in slight annoyance.  
  
"I said I was not to be interrupted until everything was ready, did I not Garou?" The growl the voice carried implied no small threat.  
  
"Yes, sir, but-" Garou replied, fidgeting. It had SEEMED like a good idea at the time to tell his master that Rin had taken over watching the girl and had forced him out of the cave, but now, in front of his master... And it was a full moon, too. Master was always a little crazy when there was a full moon.  
  
"BUT?" For a moment Kentaar's rage was thick in the air and Garou almost turned and fled out of instinct, but then the master calmed and was saying in a soft, almost sweet voice, "But what, Garou? Please, if it was important enough to break a direct order than it must be very important indeed."  
  
The rage aura passed and Garou's instincts turned off, now it was only his mind that told him he should be afraid. Listening to his mind had never been easy for someone like Garou though, and so he found himself telling his master everything. "Rin took over watching the human, sir. I wouldn't have bothered you, but the way he was acting, sir, I was worried he would do something to... compromise your interests."  
  
"Oh?" The master raised a slender eyebrow, voice still soft, "Really?" The master rose and started pacing, walking in a circle around Garou. "So what your saying is, you think Rin would do something to damage the girl's purity? Or perhaps you think he's planning on killing her?"  
  
Quickly swallowing a lump that was rising in his throat, Garou nodded. His speaking abilities seemed to have temporarily left him.  
  
"I see, well that is a very serious problem indeed. My most trusted servant turning against me for a human... Of course, that's not the story Keitai told me." Kentaar stood face to face with his terrified servant, raising his hand.  
  
"Ungh!" Garou looked down in shock. Suddenly his master's hand was sticking through his chest and blood was pouring everywhere. "Ah..." He raised his hand to grasp at his master's arm for support, but as quickly as it had been inserted it was withdrawn. The force of the movement sent Garou tumbling forward. "Ma-master..." He coughed once and then there was only darkness.  
  
Kentaar stepped over the body and walked to the mouth of the cave. "Keitai."  
  
The darkness outside of the cave shifted slightly, a pair of yellow eyes slowly opened, "Yes, Kentaar-sama?"  
  
"Send Inuko in to clean up her brother's remains." Kentaar moved thoughtfully forward. As the moon's rays hit his face a dark smile formed. "I think I'll take a short walk before our 'guests' arrive."  
  
"As you wish, however..." There was a thoughtful pause, and then Keitai continued, "It seems that the Shaman has just arrived.  
  
Kentaar growled in annoyance. "Never a moments rest... After you get Inuko take the Shaman to Rin. She'll know what to do with the human."  
  
"Yes, sir." The darkness paused, "Sir, if I may, what do you want me to do if Inuko is... upset by her brother's death?"  
  
For the first time all night Kentaar threw his head back and laughed. He wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Allow her to join him."  
  
"Yes sir, as you wish." The darkness bowed and then the yellow eyes disappeared.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Uzu slowed his pace again. The person that had captured Sakura was good at trying to loose trackers but that wasn't what was worrying him. There were two things that bothered him about this chase. The first was the pattern the abductor chose to loose trackers. It wasn't a normal pattern; in fact it was a very specific pattern that was commonly used by both himself and his siblings to confuse animals. As far as he knew it was ONLY used by himself and his siblings, but that wasn't possible. None of them would EVER give one of Daddy's friends to that bastard Kentaar!  
  
He wanted to believe that, anyway, but... It was Mina that was bothering him. He knew Kentaar still visited her in her dreams. He was pretty sure he was the ONLY one that knew, too. She had begged him not to tell the others, she didn't want them to worry. He was beginning to wonder if he had made the best decision when he agreed to keep her secret. He KNEW she couldn't be willingly working for Kentaar. He knew what Kentaar most likely did to her at night, it wasn't pretty. She looked so much like Mother, so... Revenge for mother's 'sins.'  
  
Uzu shook his head. He was not going to doubt his sister. He glanced sideways at her for the hundredth time. She was acting weird recently, though, wasn't she? And Ganten hadn't been lying when he said she was the most animalistic. If she were helping the tracking probably would have been a lot easier. So why wasn't she helping? He noticed his sister's terrified countenance. She was always that way because of Kentaar. But now they had Daddy. Soon it wasn't going to be possible for Kentaar to hurt them EVER again.  
  
A noise behind him caused Uzu to stop his movements. "There's someone behind us..." He growled to the others, holding up his hands to motion to them to stop. "Just one, traveling very fast, though..."  
  
Kakashi sighed; this was a distraction he was NOT happy about. They not only had to find Sakura-chan but Iruka was possibly in danger as well. "They're traveling a lot faster than we are, so we might as well wait for them to come to us. It'll give us the upper hand if it's an enemy."  
  
Uzu shook his head, "It doesn't smell like an enemy it smells like... Kasai!"  
  
A bright flash of red dashed from a tree, landing panting at Uzu's feet. "Long time no see, idiot."  
  
"How did you get here? I didn't summon you!" Uzu grabbed the fox by the snout and started ruffling its hair the wrong way.  
  
"You-your brother." The fox panted then it snapped its jaws at Uzu's offensive hand. "Stop that, bastard!"  
  
"Hey, I was just givin' you some love, you old bastard!" Uzu grinned mischievously, patting the fur down the right way. This action still seemed to annoy the fox who again nipped at Uzu's hand.  
  
Kakashi sighed, and then he spotted a flash of... Was that one of his shirts? "Oi, you two, stop playing." He turned his attention to the fox. Tapping it to get its attention he asked, "You said Tenmar sent you?"  
  
Kasai nodded. "He has a message for this idiot. Let's see it was something like... Someone named Sakura-chan and some guy were captured by that bastard uncle of yours and the village is not safe so someone called the Hokage needed to know about that, and for some reason he thought you guys would want to know." The fox shifted its shoulders in an almost shrug type motion.  
  
Suddenly Kasai found himself being lifted off the ground by the scruff of his neck. Growling he kicked his paws and struggled, but the grip held firm. "Tell me," Kakashi asked tone dangerous. "Was this 'some guy' named Iruka?"  
  
"Let me down, pup!" Kasai growled, baring his teeth.  
  
Kakashi tightened his grip. "Was the name Iruka?" He demanded, loosing control of his composure for a moment. If the damn creature didn't respond soon he was going to kill it.  
  
"I think so!" The fox yelped out. Kakashi begrudgingly let it down. "Damn you, Uzu. You're hanging around a rough crowd, aren't you?"  
  
Uzu's face had dropped its grin, he patted Kasai lightly, face serious. "That guy that got taken? Kakashi here's his lover. Anyway, these are Daddy's friends."  
  
"You found Naruto-sama?" Kasai asked, jumping slightly in the air, obviously excited. "Where is he?"  
  
"Ehh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, stepping forward. "Good to see you again Kasai... How's Aidan?"  
  
"You mean this RUNT is- YOU are Naruto-sama???"  
  
Naruto nodded sheepishly.  
  
Kakashi smacked Naruto lightly on the head. "You can get reacquainted later, for now can we please focus on the mission?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* So... Did you like my names so far? Just to warn you, I have a few more to name, like the Shaman (that's a girl) and the Shaman's assistant (male).  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* you should list the people that suggested the names you choose, idiot.  
  
Psychic King: *blushing and muttering* Well, at least she got over the whole Sasuke being in love with Naruto thing, but now she's a real bitch...  
  
Sakura: What was that?  
  
Psychic King: *shaking head* I didn't say anything! *bowing to readers, OK, I guess she's right, though. So I'll give credit where credit is due: *clearing throat* First off I REALLY wanted to use Kazae from Michiru, but I realized that I had WAY too many names that started with K, so I ended up changing it to Garou which means something like hungry wolf (or picture gallery) or something like that... (that was the character I killed this chapter anyway, so I don't feel so bad) The name Inuko came from Naruto'sTwinSister and I plan on using Sai for the Shaman (also provided by Naruto'sTwinSister) *gasp* Yeup, that's almost a spoiler... Gin (haven't introduced him yet) and Aidan are both from kit. Keitai is from someone that e-mailed me and they didn't leave me with a name to recognize them by, I'd feel mean putting their e-mail address down... (if you want credit for the name, just tell me who you are in a review or e-mail me with a name to recognize you by). Anyway, anyone that sent me a recommendation and I didn't use it, I'm REALLY sorry! I got a lot of great names that didn't seem to fit the strange villains...  
  
Sakura: *growling* you're telling ME. That boy you have me with right now is SO EVIL. I don't care if he has smile lines or not, he's rude! And he's stupid.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* yeah. But he's cute...  
  
Sakura: That's NOT the point!  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* well, if it makes you feel better, soon enough the Shaman, Sai, will come for you and then... *grin* Ain't telling.  
  
Sakura: *rolling eyes* It can't be good, you're never nice to me...  
  
Psychic King: Tough love, my friend. Anyway, if I had Sasuke attracted to YOU that would mean that you'd HAVE to die. As it is, I think you're gonna live.  
  
Sakura: What do you mean you THINK I'm gonna live?  
  
Psychic King: Um... Anyway, next chapter will be up soon. I'm really enjoying writing these scenes, so I think the next chapter will be soon, but school work is starting to pile up, so it MAY take a little longer than usual. I don't think so, though. When I HAVE to do something, it becomes more appealing NOT to do it, you know? Anyway, Bye all!!!!! I'm gonna go get some water now! I've been cooped up in this room writing for the last three hours... And I ran out of water about 2 ½ hours ago... Ah, water.... *Rises unstably and waves* Have a good day/night/whatever! See you all next chapter!  
  
Psychic King: *walking back, glass of water in hand* What are you all still doing here? Oh, yeah... I forgot to end the chapter... um... Oh! Feel free to e-mail me Psychic_King@hotmail.com with any problems and such!!!!! And, please review if you liked the chapter!!!!! Bye!!!!!! 


	16. Embrace of Preperation

Psychic King: *waving energetically at the readers* HI!!!! How's it going? Well, FF.net has finally fixed it's problems, so here I am, with my update! It's been ready for SUCH a longtime, too... It's a pity that ff.net wouldn't let me sign in the last few days...  
  
Sakura: *smacking Psychic King* don't you mean that you've actually just finished it??? Admit it; you were taking things easy this week because of all the problems ff.net was having...  
  
Psychic King: *glancing around guiltily* SHUSH! I've been slaving the last few days! So what if it was over school work instead of the fic? I've still been working my butt off! AND my update is still up as soon as it possibly could be because I haven't been able to sign in the last few days, so there! *sticks tong out at Sakura*  
  
Sakura: *rolling eyes* whatever... *muttering* you big baby.  
  
Psychic King: *turning head darkly* WHAT was that???  
  
Sakura: *holding up hands innocently* I said, this chapter looks interesting.  
  
Psychic King: *getting excited* Doesn't it?? I was having a lot of fun writing this one, honestly. I just had so much to do that it took a little longer than normal. Sorry, but I think that school work may be more important than getting the chapter out in record time... Ah, the road to being a carrier woman is long and hard! *staring dreamily off into space*  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* She's always the same... Stupid... *looking at readers* Well, since she's off in lala land... Psychic King doesn't own Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei or any number of other characters that actually ARE in the Naruto series. Somehow she came up with Naruto's children, his brother, my aunt, and any number of other villains that she's made up. *walking of screen* Don't know why I even bother with that, anyway...  
  
Psychic King: *looking suddenly at readers* Oh, forgive me; I was just looking at my bright future as a Business Woman, after the long hard years of college (in other words, wishful thinking)... I do got a warning for you guys before you read the chapter, though. It is a Sakura-heavy chapter, sorry. But I felt it ONLY fair to warn you in advance, right?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Tenmar dashed deeper into the forest, cursing as he did so. The trail was there, and it was completely uncovered, but HOW were they managing to stay constantly the same distance ahead of him. He knew in the forest he was able to run faster than any normal human and many animals, but whoever had taken Iruka was as familiar with the forest as he was, if not more so. Not only that, but they were keeping a steady distance between them. Someone was definitely tying with him.  
  
The sound of Aidan catching up caused Tenmar to turn his head a bit. "Did you find the Hokage?"  
  
"Of course!" The fox replied annoyance creeping into is voice. He slowed down, trying to fall into Tenmar's stride.  
  
Tenmar grinned at him, "Good job. What did he have to say?"  
  
The fox finally managed to slow to Tenmar's gait, panting he rplied. "He understood and is warning the villagers right now. He offered to send some assistance with me, but I figured if I were to wait that long I'd miss out on all the fun. I'm actually surprised that you haven't caught up to the guy yet. Your time in this village must have dulled your senses."  
  
Tenmar glared at the fox. "We don't have TIME for playing or criticism. You can travel a lot faster than I can, so why don't you make yourself useful and go on ahead and see what the situation is?"  
  
"Oh, yes SIR..." Aidan's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I just LOVE the idea of running headlong into certain danger to save some human punk that probably played a part in sealing the boss-man way back when." But even as he spoke he was dashing ahead. He looked as if he was grinning when he turned his head back briefly to Tenmar. "Don't worry, Tenmar, I'll slow 'em down enough for you to catch up with him."  
  
Tenmar watched as Aidan dashed away, calling after him, "Don't do anything stupid! Just find out if he's OK." But the fox was ignoring him. "Shit!" Tenmar sighed, exasperated. He COULD go faster, but if he did he wouldn't be able to see as well or stop as well. The last thing that would help Iruka at this point was him knocking himself out by running into a tree. For a moment Tenmar wished he had sent Uzu... He was much better equipped for blind running in the forest, and their power level was almost exactly the same...  
  
Tenmar shook his head as he dashed forward. It was too late to worry about that, he would just have to pray that Iruka would be OK once he finally caught up with him. If even one hair was missing from either Iruka or Aidan he would make the kidnapper pay it back double.  
  
The sudden and sharp sound of Aidan whimpering in pain brought Tenmar to a suddenly halt. Aidan's voice reached his ears, "Don't come! It's impossi-" The words were cut off and the sickening sound of something thudding against what must have been a tree were all the followed.  
  
In a moment of blind anger and rage Tenmar felt what he considered his human side slip from his grasp. He mind was boiling over in rage, slowly he felt himself transform.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Slowly, tentatively Sakura walked to the mouth of the cave that was her prison. The boy was still sitting there, gazing off into the distance. The wolves were there, too, one of them stood and growled as she approached. The boy, Rin, patted the wolf lightly and glanced at her. "Planning your escape?"  
  
"I- I was just..." Sakura sighed as she sunk down to the ground. The cave floor was cold this far away from the fire, and there was a cool breeze, but she craved human company, being a prisoner wasn't something she was good at. Anyway, this boy intrigued her; he was so... different from what she thought he would be. There was also the fact that he was attractive and so cold and distant acting towards her. She blushed slightly, schlumping her shoulders. She was starting to have doubts about her choices in men.  
  
"What do you want?" The angry voice snapped out, causing Sakura to quickly shift her line of thought.  
  
"Why are you doing this? I don't think you're a bad person, so WHY are you helping that man? He's only doing this to hurt Naruto, he plans on KILLING a lot of people for his own selfish-" Sakura gasped in surprise as Rin moved faster than her eyes could follow, grabbing her arm and shoving her painfully against the wall.  
  
"Selfish?" A twisted smile covered his face, anger and rage dripping from his voice. "A human has no right to lecture me on selfishness. I don't care if Kentaar plans on killing every single one of you creatures; in fact I follow him for that very reason. As long as I can kill all of you I don't care if I have to make a pact with the Devil."  
  
"Ahh! It hurts!" The boy released her arm like it was hot lead and Sakura sat in stunned silence for a long moment, panting against the wall of the cave. There was something strange about when that boy touched her. It was like... his anger, his hate, his rage were all transferred momentarily to her. It had been overpowering, if he had held on any longer she probably would have slit her own wrist; the feeling was that strong. "What WAS that? What are you?" A fear and repulsion rose slightly, and she found her body backing away from the boy.  
  
Rin threw back his head and laughed an empty hollow sound. "What's the matter, don't you want to save me from myself anymore? So much for human idealism. You're are all the same; disgusting. If Kentaar-sama didn't already have plans for you I'd have drained the blood from your body and fed your flesh to the wolves already."  
  
"Rin, don't you think it's cruel to upset the girl so much on this, her last night alive?" The darkness shifted and suddenly there was a man standing there, wrapped in a cloak the color of the night, with piercing yellow eyes.  
  
"Keitai!" Rin moved away from Sakura, slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Finally. I was afraid I'd kill her if I had to baby-sit a second longer."  
  
"As I can see..." The dark shape said dryly, pulling back the hood to his cloak to reveal an almost normal looking if not a little thin and pale face. He had a happy looking smile plastered on it. Something about the man reminded her of Kakashi-sensei. "Well, no matter, you did a good job restraining yourself until now and now she is my problem." The yellow eyed man reached out a bony white hand and grasped Sakura firmly. "Come along girl, we can't keep the shaman waiting."  
  
"So she's really here?" Rin asked lowly, an excited energy pouring off him. Sakura looked at him in surprise. He was treating this man with respect and he was radiating awe and wonder at the prospect of meeting this shaman person. Why were these humans OK while she was a disgusting piece of filth to him?  
  
"Indeed. She's preparing for the... ritual now with her assistant." Keitai, still clenching Sakura, walked casually to the mouth of the cave and jumped.  
  
Sakura screamed as she fell for what seemed like an eternity. She had not realized that the cave was so high up. A hand firmly clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams and then... She was somehow standing on the ground again, alive and unhurt.  
  
The man smiled down at her, hand still over her mouth. "I have your mouth covered not because I worry that your friends, who are valiantly searching for you, will hear and come running; they are quite a good distance away still. Rather, my hand is covering your mouth because your scream grates on my nerves and I have no desire to listen to it. I will remove my hand if you understand this and agree that until such a time arrives that your friends ARE near enough to hear your scream you will avoid such actions. Nod now if you agree."  
  
Sakura nodded eyes wide. Fr a captor this man also seemed strange to her.  
  
"Good!" He removed his hand from her mouth, although the one clamped around her wrist remained firmly intact. "Now, I am sure you have many questions, and I would be more than happy to answer them, there would be nothing quite so sad as dyeing confused, don't you agree?" As he spoke he pulled her forward quickly, leading her swiftly between trees and bolders.  
  
Sakura nodded mutely. She was only now recovering from the stun of her drop and the stun of hearing that this was her last night alive was now kicking in. "So you ARE planning on killing me?"  
  
"Hum... I know that's what it sounds like, but actually... Well, your body will still be intact. How could I explain this...?" He looked thoughtfully down at the girl. "Are you familiar with what a shaman is?"  
  
Sakura nodded. "A shaman is some one in touch with the spiritual. Usually small tribes have one in place of a doctor and they often are revered by their people as the 'wise man' or 'elder', right?"  
  
The man nodded, beaming. "You are such a clever girl! It's a real shame that after today you will be gone! What the shaman, Sai-sama, is going to do is take your soul, yank it out of you body and then take your aunt's soul from heaven and thrust it in. So, you see, it's not like you'd really be dieing, right? More like you're... making way for new life."  
  
Sakura thought about this. It actually seemed like a reasonable statement, but... "Why am I taking this all so well? I mean, I KNOW that there is a big chance that I'm gonna die unless those idiots get here soon, so why am I so calm?"  
  
The man's smile got bigger and his free hand patted her head. "So clever! Well, the answer is simple, really. You have real confidence in your friends to save you. Rin is currently working that part of your mind. He's empathic you know, that's why when he touched you back there it was so freaky. He's picked up on your confidence in your friends and is enlarging that feeling to keep you from trying to run away or acting like a frightened kitten, both of which would be rather annoying."  
  
"So he- Rin, he's working some sort of mind Jutsu on me?" Sakura asked, confused.  
  
"Oh no!" The man replied, acting shocked. "His mind powers differ greatly from your 'ninja' games. I'm willing to bet that you're clever enough that those 'mind jutsus' don't work on you, right?" Sakura nodded. "But Rin is different. It's more like he's... evolved than skilled. His whole family was like that at one point, but they were feared and hunted by the village he's from. He's the only one left. Sad, isn't it?"  
  
Sakura's mouth was hanging open in horror. Was he really saying that people, NORMAL people, killed that guy's whole family? Just because they were scared? It was almost unbelievable. "So that's why he hates humans so much, why he's so full of anger and rage?"  
  
Keitai shook his head, "that would be over simplifying the situation. You see, because of his powers he can pick up on someone's feelings as well as transfer feelings to others. So, whenever he's near someone, even if he doesn't want to, he automatically picks up on their emotions, if he wants to he can also gather their surface thoughts. Every selfish, destructive, ugly thought is open to someone like Rin. There's no way to block him out, either. Poor guy, eh? Well, but you can see why people wouldn't like his kind. But for people like us and for animals..." The man shrugged good-naturedly. "He's the best warrior we have, and his anger and passion is refreshing. Ah, we are already here... Time passes so quickly when you're having a good conversation."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Uzu sighed as they dashed further into the forest. This was too easy. They were obviously getting closer and closer to the den; the stench of wolf was getting increasingly thick in the air. He glanced at the others. Daddy, Kakashi and Ganten had similarly worried looks on their faces; Uzu was willing to bet that they were thinking along the same lines he was, that there was a trap waiting ahead. Mina's face was scrunched with distaste, obviously she could also smell the wolves' stench, but he doubted that she realized the trap they must be heading into. Sasuke was the only one that seemed unaffected by the situation, and if that was because he couldn't smell the wolves or because he simply didn't care Uzu was uncertain, either was he pulled to a halt, whistling to Kasai, who was ahead, to come back.  
  
Sasuke sighed, looking annoyed. "Oi, why are you stopping us? We're making good time now that that thing's taking the lead."  
  
Kakashi patted the impatient boy's head, shaking his own. "Because it's been going TOO easily. They're letting us get close."  
  
Naruto nodded, punching a nearby tree. "Bastards." He growled. "They're messing with our heads. They know this'll slow us down, because it'll make us paranoid. Right now they could be doing terrible things to Sakura-chan!"  
  
Ganten nodded. "We need to come up with a plan, something to turn the tables and use their game to our advantage."  
  
Naruto shook is head, "I already got a plan, I'm gonna kick their sorry asses as soon as I see 'em. Then I'm gonna kill my bastard brother and take Sakura-chan home. The longer we hang back the bigger the chance that we'll be playing into their hands."  
  
Sasuke nodded, eyes glinting. "That's what I think, too." He grinned at Naruto, and Kakashi shook his head again. He was hoping to use this exercise to test his strength, wasn't he? He wasn't even thinking about the fact that he would die if something went wong...  
  
"Oi, Kasai, what are you waiting for?" Naruto demanded. "Let's get going." The fox looked a if it were grinning as it turned and ran ahead, following the trail quickly.  
  
Uzu also grinned, balling his hands into fists. "That's all I wanted to hear." He replied jumping ahead, Naruto, Sasuke and Mina on his heels. He glanced back at Ganten and Kakashi. "If you two losers want to formulate a plan then you can meet up with us there. I can't promise we'll leave any prey for you, though!"  
  
Kakashi sighed as his students dashed forward, towards a certain trap and therefore possible death. He understood their feelings, but rushing right into a situation as dangerous as this one was just stupid. Shrugging he glanced at Ganten, Kakahi would have to trust in their strength for now. "Got any ideas?" He asked, boredom in his tone.  
  
Ganten looked at him in surprise. "I figured you be dashing off with the rest of them so you could go rescue Iruka-san." He replied in a tone that was just as dull.  
  
Kakashi shook his head, "Tenmar's got it taken care of. I just need to keep Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura safe or I'll never hear the end of it from Iruka... Anyway, if they dash ahead then we can show up in time to rescue them from certain peril, right?"  
  
Ganten nodded. "I could see that..." He sighed, looking up at the night sky, then he glanced at the tall trees and the vines hanging from them, picking up a vine thoughtfully he smiled. "I think I can come up with something that'll keep those idiots out of trouble..."  
  
Kakashi grinned through his facemask, he liked this kid. "I'm all ears."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Time passes so quickly when you're having a good conversation." Keitai smiled again at the girl. "But now it's time for the shaman to prepare you, so I must take my leave... I do hope that I've been of service to you in these; your last few hours on earth. I very much enjoyed talking to you, little one."  
  
"But..." Sakura looked around frantically. She was now the middle of a large clearing. In the center of the clearing was a circle made of what looked like bones; a skull was in the middle of the circle. Even with Rin heightening her calm feelings, it was a pretty freaky sight to see.  
  
From the darkness of the night forest walked a small figure wearing a long brown robe, behind that figure was a much taller one dressed similarly. They walked slowly towards the two, and then the larger figure grabbed Sakura's arm, taking possession of her from Keitai.  
  
Keitai grinned, pulling his dark hood once again over his head so the only thing Sakura could see in the darkness that had become his face was a pair of yellow eyes, glinting at her. Sakura had not question in her mind that the man was still smiling that plastered smile at her. He bowed deeply to the smaller figure. "Is there anything else you require?"  
  
The larger figure answered in a deep male voice. "Mistress Sai has all she requires, you may leave now."  
  
The darkness bowed even deeper and Keitai's voice responded, "I shall take my leave until the time of the ceremony, then." With those words his form vanished, blending perfectly with the night darkness. For a frightened moment Sakura wondered if he truly WAS gone. Someone like Keitai could be hiding anywhere in this darkness...  
  
The two hooded figures turned their attention to Sakura. "I suppose the little empath is still wandering around nearby?" A female voice said, exasperated.  
  
"I'm afraid so." The male voice from earlier replied.  
  
Sakura looked desperately between the two of them. Neither of them were very close to her, she might be able to dash into the darkness and- A low growling sound disrupted her line of thought. Or maybe she should just wait here for Naruto and Sasuke... The growling sound vanished. Apparently Keitai was not the only one that could easily blend into the darkness, Rin was still nearby, reading her thoughts as well.  
  
The smaller of the two figures, the Shaman, moved closer to Sakura, pulling back her hood. "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped."  
  
Sakura gasped in surprise as the hood dropped, revealing a girl not much older than herself, probably the same age as Rin. The girl had her dark, almost blue hued hair neatly folded in a long slim braid and bright red eyes. On her face various symbols and designs were either painted or tattooed, Sakura couldn't tell which it was. The man also pulled back his hood, revealing a young, open face. Pulling off the cloak entirely, Sakura noticed that the man had short brown hair, an annoyed look in his similarly colored eyes. He was tall and thin, also older looking, at least in his mid to late twenties.  
  
The shaman sighed, pulling her cloak off as well, and Sakura was surprised to see that the girl was practically naked underneath. She wasn't wearing a shirt, instead long necklaces with beads, bones and feathers hung around her neck, for the most part covering her more private sections of her upper body. Even when she moved in was that may expose her it would not have been easy to see much, as he whole body from neck down was covered in a complicated and intricate pattern like those on her face. Covering her lower half was barely two scraps of clothing attached by a strap around her waist. IN the strap was a long, curved ceremonial knife. She tossed a bundle of long candles to her escort. "Gin, set this up, I'll take care of her body."  
  
The man caught it easily, with an expression Sakura easily recognized, nodding, and went about setting up candles around the circle. The expression was something that was a bit of a surprise to Sakura, considering the difference in their apparent ages (the man, Gin was at least 10 years older than the shaman looked), but it was definitely the look that Kakashi gave Iruka and vice versa, not to mention the look that Uzu's been giving Shikamaru and... She grudgingly admitted that it was also the way that Sasuke looked at Naruto sometimes; a look of pure love. She gaped as the shaman walked to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the center of the circle.  
  
"Don't worry." The shaman was saying in a commanding voice, a serious, composed look to her face, "This part won't hurt you one bit." Sai smiled at Sakura and suddenly she found herself reevaluating her estimate of the girl's age. She suddenly looked much older than Rin, older than perhaps anyone Sakura had ever met...  
  
Sakura found herself being laid out in the center of the circle of bones, next to the skull. She looked at the skull as Sai stood over her, chanting and waving her arms. She was trying desperately to summon some sort of feelings of terror or sorrow, but nothing would come. This was all Rin's fault. That bastard was toying with her mind, making her feel calm. It wasn't right, what kind of person got rid of the fear and sad feelings someone was SUPPOSED to have right before they died? In fact, the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. The more she wanted to get away from these strange people so that she could smack him a few times. She realized with a small amount of personal triumph that he was TRYING to calm her down, but it wasn't working. Anger was an emotion that Sakura was more familiar with than either fear or self-pity, Sakura thought, feeling a small amount of personal triumph... And that was the last thing she thought, as darkness took her body, and she fell deeply into slumber.  
  
Sai looked up at Gin, a wary smile on her face as Sakura finally fell asleep. "She was getting worked up at the end there. I was starting to worry that she wasn't going to fall asleep."  
  
Gin smiled at her, "Oh, I wasn't worried. You've been doing this since her mother was in diapers. A young thing like her isn't any match for you-" His words fell short as Sai whacked him hard on the head. He rubbed the top of his head, making pouting faces at Sai.  
  
"Don't talk about my age, brat." Sai stalked back to Sakura's body, lying down next to it, on the other side of the skull and clasping Sakura's hand in her own. "Now, I'm going to enter her dream to have a little uninterrupted conversation. Light the candles once I seem to be in, that should keep our little empath out of the conversation for the time being."  
  
Gin walked to stand next to his mistress, leaning over her as she started to close her eyes. "Just be careful in there, Sai-sama. If she realizes that you are in her dream and that SHE has control she might find a way to stop you from getting back to your body..."  
  
"I don't need you to tell me that, Gin." Sai replied, opening her eyes and smiling at the man. "Like you said, I've been dong this since long before either of you were born."  
  
Gin returned the smile, running his hand lightly over her lips. "I just don't want a repeat of last time. Don't forget, you have someone important to return to."  
  
"Only if you think you're important." She replied lightly. Then she waved him away. "Just get the candles set up."  
  
"Your wish is my command." Leaning down, Gin pressed his lips gently against Sai's before rising and quickly jumping out of immediate hitting range.  
  
Sai settled for glaring at the man before closing her eyes. Slowly she feed her consciousness into the world of dreams, grabbing onto Sakura's hand a little tighter. If she could keep physical contact it would be that much easier to get into the girl's dream and get out once she was done.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *glancing anxiously at the readers* Well? What did you think? I know there was a lot of side and minor character stuff going on and not a lot of Naruto and the others, but this was an important chapter! Next chapter will have a lot more other stuff... I know I didn't need to get so far into Sai and Gin's lives, either, but I was REALLY enjoying that. I got the idea in my head that the Shaman and her protector be lovers and I wouldn't leave.... And then I got attached to the idea that she be really old, but look young and cute, and then I got attached to... Well, maybe too many things...... And then I added them all, because I have no self control...  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* Shame on you!!!!!!! You BARELY had me in the chapter!  
  
Kakashi: *also shaking head* And you had ME let my students run off to certain doom without me???  
  
Psychic King: *shrinking back* Well, I thought that maybe you would have a little confidence in Naruto, now and anyway, Uzu's with them.... And... It's not like you let them get FAR ahead of you, right?  
  
Iruka: *also shaking head* and HOW MANY chapters do we have to wait for Tenma to find me??? I mean, really! Have I been passed out all this time, or am I following someone?  
  
Tenmar: YEAH! I'm really worried about Aidan, too! How could you leave me off there????? And NOT go back to me?????????  
  
Sakura: And what about me? You have some freak feeding me calming emotions and then I finally find a way to fight against him and I pass out because of some stupid shaman?  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* N-now... Calm down, all of you.... I had to write all that stuff so that next chapter I can have a lot of things happening! I promise you that next chapter will have a lot more fighting AND answer your questions, OK??? But for now...  
  
*looking to readers* I have a few announcements to make!! First off, I have some thanks to give out. I have received fan art this week from THREE different sources. I haven't gotten a web page up yet to show them off to all you guys, but one of the people has it on her own page, so here's the link if you want to see it! I swear, all three have sent out AWESOME pictures and I am working on a website right now to show them off! It may not happen until this story is done, though... I can only do so much at once, and right now I am focusing my free energy into writing! Anyway, the one pic that currently is hosted on the author's webpage is here: (it's a really great representation of Naruto's children with Naruto, minus Tenmar, because she says he's taking the picture). *grin*  
  
I really want to say THANKYOU to all three of you, but none of you gave me names to praise you by except for your real names... I know it sounds stupid, but I would hate to use your real names without permission, even if I am singing your praises! I usually avoid putting my own name on the internet, so I want to show the same respect to you!  
  
ALSO! I do would like to now thank WindDragon0131 for providing the name Keitai! I didn't have your name last time, so I wanted to mention you now.  
  
Anyway, please review if you liked the chapter! I'll get the next one out a lot fast this time (especially because ff.net seems to be working properly now!). 


	17. Embrace of Rescue Part I

*In a dark room, with no lights sits a solitary figure, crouched over something small. She is shaking. Suddenly a candle is lit*  
  
Psychic King: *singing brokenly* H-happy birthday to... me.... Happy birthday to me.... Happy birthday dear... Psychic King... Happy birthday to me-  
  
Sakura: *whacking Psychic King hard on the back of the head and flicking the light switch* Geeze, how'd I know you'd try to pull something like this?  
  
Psychic King: *looking up, crying and rubbing head* what did you do THAT for? It's my birthday; I don't deserve to be hit!  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* You are trying to dig up sympathy by making yourself look pathetic again, aren't you?  
  
Psychic King: *looking away guiltily* no... It's not my fault that I'm here alone singing over a lone cupcake that I bought myself on my birthday....  
  
Sakura: *looking to the readers* Don't listen to her, folks. She doesn't deserve your pity. She's been so busy with people that want to wish her a happy birthday and want to spend time with her she's barely had time to write! Her phone has been ringing off the hook, her house is FULL of cake and her bank account is looking better than it has since Christmas. Not that that's saying much, she's really bad at saving money.....  
  
Psychic King: *looking indignant* AM NOT. Geeze is this my Birthday or pick on Psychic King day, anyway?  
  
Sakura: Both. Anyway, I've got a special surprise for you.  
  
Psychic King: *eyes wide* you mean, you got me a Birthday present????  
  
Sakura: Sort of. It's from all of us. *leads Psychic King into a room filled with the rest of the Naruto cast plus Naruto's children*  
  
Naruto cast plus children: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!  
  
Psychic King: *smiling, tears running down face* You all remembered!!  
  
Naruto: *muttering* Yeah, of course... You kept reminding up over and over again for like a month.  
  
Sakura: *leading Psychic King into the middle of the room* Here's your surprise!  
  
Psychic King: *looking down* Gaara-chan?  
  
Gaara: *stuck in the middle of the room, chained heavily from head to toe, gag in mouth*  
  
Sakura: *removing the gag* Alright, show Psychic King-sama what we taught you.  
  
Gaara: *Glaring daggers starts speaking quickly in monotone* Happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday Psychic King-sama happy birthday to you.  
  
Psychic King: *hugging Gaara* OH MY GOD!!!!! Thank you all! This is the best Birthday ever! Gaara-chan sang... TO ME... *tears running down face*  
  
Gaara: *Chomp*  
  
Psychic King: *suddenly pushing Gaara away, blood puring from the place her ear USED to be* OH MY GOD!! MY EAR!!!!! Help me!! Argh!!!!!! *running around like a heedless chicken* My Ear, my ear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Gaara: *chewing*  
  
Sakura: *looking anxiously at the audience* Ano... Things are a little hectic here right now at the Psychic King's birthday party... Why don't you read the chapter while we... Try to sow her ear back on...  
  
Gaara: *swallowing*  
  
Naruto: That's just SICK man!  
  
Iruka: Quick, we need to get him to vomit it up before he digests it!!!  
  
Psychic King: *about to pass out, looking at the audience* Heh... Birthday's rock. *thumbs up sign*  
  
Sakura: Yeah.... Um, Psychic King doesn't own us (thank God) and uh... Please enjoy the chapter.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 17  
  
Iruka's eyes snapped open as a loud, vicious howling noise reached his ears. "What? Where am I?" The last thing he remembered was- His head snapped up, as he thought, before him was a scene he would not have considered possible only a few short hours ago. The sweet motherly looking house wife, Mrs. Haruno, Sakura-chan's mother, was facing off against a large red fox. Both were fighting better than he probably could in his current condition, too, assuming that he could find a way to make his legs move.  
  
It all had happened so suddenly, one moment he had been watching over Sasuke's house, hoping that Sakura-chan would return. Suddenly Mrs. Haruno knocked on the door. He opened it right away; after all she might have found Sakura-chan. She had said that she was worried about Sakura that the girl hadn't been home all day. It was in the middle of making tea for the woman that he felt a prick on his neck, the next thing he knew he was opening his eyes to the scene before him.  
  
Who would have thought, Mrs. Haruno was a spy for the very person that killed her dearest friend and sister in law... Iruka shook his head, no... He'd known Sakura's mother a long time, in fact she was one of the people that helped support him after his parent's death. This woman, this doppelganger, was definitely NOT her.  
  
Iruka sighed as he struggled desperately to his feet. The fox that was fighting for him for whatever reason was getting badly beaten. Iruka grimaced as once again the woman smacked the charging fox which landed with a sickening thud and loud yelp. He had to find some way to help. His vision was blurry, his legs barely able to support his weight; jumping into the fight was not something that would easily happen. But his ears were still sharp and his hand was steady enough, he'd have to close his eyes to aim properly, but...  
  
Fingering a kunai from his pocket he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds of the sweet looking old woman and threw, pushing all his strength into it. An angry scream reached Iruka's ears and he opened his eyes quickly, praying that his judgment was right, that he hadn't accidentally stabbed the brave creature that was there to save him. Relief flooded his being as he noticed the woman clutching at her arm, attention diverted momentarily to her charge.  
  
"That wasn't a very smart move, boy." The old woman replied, voice falling, becoming deep as she spoke. As Iruka watched the body's shape started shifting. The small plump frame slowly stretched, the long brown hair began to shrink and turn a bright sliver color, the house dress slowly spun around the figure to hug the new form tightly, turning from a floral pattern to a deep blue. Before Iruka could completely understand what had happened his lover was standing before him. "Iruka..." Kakashi's voice called out, approaching the teacher slowly, kunai still deeply embedded in his arm. "How could you- I thought you loved me?"  
  
Iruka tried to block out the sound of his lover's broken hearted voice. Drugged as he was, this was particularly unfair... His mind was still hazy. 'It's not Kakashi, it's NOT.' He repeated over and over in his head as the figure moved closer. Iruka looked desperately past the figure that was moving closer, fixing his attention instead on the fox. It was still slumped lifelessly against a tree and Iruka found himself praying that it was not dead. He had gotten the monster's attention off it, so it could still survive, as long as it lay there and didn't-  
  
"Bastard doppelganger..." The fox muttered, slowly rising to its feet. Iruka could see its legs shaking in pain, deep gashes across its body, blood practically pouring out. "You're still fighting me." Iruka winced, wishing that the creature had played dead, had stayed down...  
  
The Kakashi-monster turned, "Oh, you're still alive?" It intoned, copying Kakashi's bored tone perfectly.  
  
"Damn strait." The fox replied flippantly, wheezing slightly. "Human, you OK?"  
  
Iruka nodded, even as his strength was quickly fleeing and will to fight vanishing along with it. Even though he knew it wasn't Kakashi the thought of fighting even a look alike was NOT appealing.  
  
"Good. Tenmar'd have my hide if I let you get messed up, too. This THING is my prey, so just stay out of it, got that?"  
  
Iruka shook his head, he wasn't going to let that fox die protecting him; he wasn't. "Oi, is it really that fun beating on a half dead dog?" Iruka managed, leaning heavily against a tree. "Or is that your job? I thought that you were trying to abduct ME. Someone's probably gonna get really pissed if you waste their time beating on something that's as good as dead anyway instead of taking me wherever you were before it sowed up."  
  
The Kakashi look alike sprang forward and kicked the dog in the stomach, sending it flying again against a tree. He then turned and walked back to Iruka. Iruka felt tears roll down his eyes as he looked at the unmoving creature. "I didn't kill it." The doppelganger said gently, reaching down to touch Iruka's cheek. "Just as I'm not going to kill you, love. My master has plans for you; you and your friends are special presents for the master's brother."  
  
Iruka tried to flinch back as the caressing moved to his lips, the man's hands even felt like Kakashi's, his warmth, his smell... Iruka's eyes widened as the man gently pried his mouth open, inserting his thumb into Iruka's mouth and pushing his body against Iruka. Narrowing his eyes Iruka bit down as hard as he could manage. The man recoiled slightly, standing in Kakashi's annoyed pose. "Don't fuck with me, bastard. You think you could ever compare to Kakashi? I may be drugged but I'm not THAT drugged, so why don't you stop with this game and take me to your master."  
  
The man looked down at Iruka for a moment, then at his bleeding thumb. Quicker than Iruka's eyes could follow the man raised his hand and smacked Iruka across the face. The force from the blow was enough to knock the teacher off his feet and onto the ground. "I WAS going to be nice and give you one last happy memory of your lover."  
  
"I'd rather never die than take that kind of 'compassion' from YOU." Iruka spat back from the ground, trying to push his body back up.  
  
The man's foot recoiled then planted it's self firmly in Iruka's stomach. Iruka looked back to see the man pulling his foot back for another. "That can be arranged, huma-" The Kakashi clone's words were cut off as a red streak slammed into him.  
  
Iruka looked up in shock as a half man half beast creature stood above him. A werewolf? Iruka shook his head, it was red colored and its tail was more like a... a FOX? Iruka's head spun as a voice he recognized growled, "Keep your hands OFF what's mine, bastard."  
  
"Tenmar?" Iruka replied, finally finding his voice.  
  
The creature turned, long, dog-like red snout glistening in the moonlight. Eyes gleaming a blood red. "Sorry it took me so long to catch up, Iruka."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A long, vicious howling noise reached the ears of Kakashi and Ganten as Ganten finished explaining his plan to the silver haired man. Kakashi looked up, alarmed; was that a wolf? Was it whatever kidnapped Iruka?  
  
Ganten looked up in concern as well. "Shit."  
  
"What?" Kakashi asked, not venturing to guess one of the many vicious possibilities that were going through his mind.  
  
"It's Tenmar... He's angry." Ganten said, worried lines crossing his face. "It sounds like he's in his fox form right now..."  
  
Kakashi cocked his head, it was going to be a while before they could throw their plan into action, why not get a few answers while he waited. "Fox form?"  
  
Ganten nodded, settling back a bit, "When we are under emotional stress we can take on more animalistic attributes. Each of us looks a little different. In Tenmar's case he looks kind of like your traditional 'werewolf' but with fox characteristics and his eyes turn red. Mina can transform into an almost complete fox, except her eyes always stay green, Uzu also can almost completely become a fox, but he... Doesn't keep much of his humanity when he does. I change the least. I'm sure you've seen Naruto-sama get pissed and his eyes turn red and his finger nails grow?" Kakashi nodded. "Well, that's about the extent of my shift. It boosts our power quite a bit, but it also takes a lot of our self-control away."  
  
Kakashi sighed, looking away from the boy. "What do you think caused him to get so upset?"  
  
Ganten shrugged. "Even though it seems like I'm always acting cold and composed, Tenmar is usually the most controlled of us. He usually only changes when someone is threatening someone he loves. My guess is that he found whoever kidnapped your Iruka-sensei. If Iruka were dead his howl would have been different, so you don't need to worry about that."  
  
"What about Naruto?" Kakashi asked, relaxing a bit. He would have to trust that Ganten was right and Tenmar really was taking good care of Iruka. That's all he could do right now.  
  
Ganten shrugged, looking away. "You probably know more than I do. Tenmar and Uzu are always talking about how strong father was, but I don't have many memories of that far back. The ones I do have are more like... Mother kissing my injuries away; father teaching me to hunt; wrestling with Tenmar, Uzu and father. You know; normal family things. I don't even remember the day mother died or father got taken away. But according to Tenmar and Uzu... He makes our feeble transformations, even Mina's, look like child's play." Ganten shrugged again. "It could just be hero worship from two sons remembering their father as some kind of god, but... I've heard from others that Father was stronger than Kentaar; if that's true than he really may be a god... or a demon. You probably know more about THAT than I do, anyway. Weren't you there? When he got sealed?" Ganten's words turned dark, a slight bitter tone was now in his voice as he stared at Kakashi.  
  
Kakashi sighed, looking at the stars, and then he stood. Whipping the dirt from his pants, he reached a hand to pull Ganten to his feet. "It's about time; we should get into our positions."  
  
Ganten's face remained dark, but he nodded and accepted Kakashi's offered hand. "Fine. Stick to the plan, no matter what. I know Kentaar better than almost anyone else, I KNOW this'll work."  
  
Kakashi looked evenly at the boy for a moment. He wanted to know HOW he knew the enemy so well, but now wasn't the time for those sorts of questions, so instead he jumped swiftly away from the white haired boy, settling into his position silently. The sounds of chanting, howling and yelling filtered through the night to his weary ears. He would be a lot happier when this night was over and Iruka was once again in his arms whole and healthy.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke glanced around in annoyance as Kasai once again picked up the pace. Obviously they were getting closer, a lot closer. They had just left a cave that smelled so strongly of Sakura that even he could smell her and now they were moving at break neck speeds through the forest towards... something. Probably (hopefully) Sakura would be there, where ever there was. They were being skillfully surrounded, each of them knew it but none of them were saying anything. The fact of the matter was, even with the three people and hundred odd wolves moving in, they really were not worried for their own safety.  
  
Sasuke wasn't quite sure what Naruto and the others were thinking, but he himself had not worried about death since he vowed to kill his brother. It would be a shame if it happened before he got his chance, but he had picked up Naruto's fight as if it were his own. He had agreed to take Naruto's pain into himself, even if the dobe didn't want him to. He was confident that if he were to fall Naruto would live on to fulfill his vengeance and so, somehow, his thinking had become the only thing that really mattered was Naruto's survival. He was sure, if he had a few more days to think on it, he would severely regret this philosophy, but for now it was going to have to do. He didn't have a lot of time to think up another one.  
  
He watched in annoyance again as Naruto moved to the outer front of the group, then Sasuke allowed his eyes to travel down to the object of his main irritation. In the center of the group, shaking like a rag doll, but still for some reason insisting on plowing forward was Mina. Naruto was purposely taking the dangerous positions and moving into the deadly spots to stand in the way of her danger. As for now he had convinced himself that the most important thing was Naruto's survival and Mina was the one that seemed to be hampering that case Sasuke was using all the energy he had in him to stop himself from taking the girl out.  
  
The last straw came when the group took to the tall trees and Naruto moved to position below the others, directly underneath Mina. If someone were to shoot up Naruto would be the first to go. Sasuke gritted his teeth and moved down next to the blonde.  
  
"What are you doing, Sasuke?" Naruto's voice held none of its normal laughter.  
  
"That's what I want to ask you." Sasuke grumbled, pushing the blonde over a bit and moving into his position. "You're not gonna kill your brother if you get shot protecting everyone else, dobe."  
  
"You're not gonna even get close to yours if you don't move." Naruto shot back, eyes glinting dangerously as he pushed Sasuke away and took his spot back. "Get up there with the others, Sasuke-bastard. They won't kill me."  
  
His confident tone gave Sasuke reason to pause, but he remained next to the other boy. It was then that a vicious howling reached their ears. Sasuke immediately changed his pace, moving himself into a more defensive position in front of Naruto; he was sure this was some sort of attack signal. Kasai stopped their procession.  
  
"That sounded like Tenmar." Uzu said, worry etched across his face.  
  
Naruto nodded. "I guess he's finally caught up with Iruka-sensei. Sounds like Aidan's hurt, though..."  
  
Sasuke looked at him, confused. "How can you tell?"  
  
It was Kasai that answered. "It's all in the tone of his howl. We know it is Tenmar because we can recognize his voice, we know that someone is hurt because the tone of the howl is angry and maybe a little urgent, and we are guessing that it's Aidan that is hurt because Tenmar wants this Iruka person for a mate, if her were hurt the howl would be a LOT more intense."  
  
Almost as if on cue, another howl, much more dangerous, much more threatening followed. "And now they've started hurting Iruka; not too much, but enough that Tenmar is warning them now, a sort of 'keep you damn hands off what's mine' type of deal." Uzu explained as Kasai raised his head and howled loudly back. "Kasai just sent out a 'persevere and don't let my brother get killed' message."  
  
Sasuke blinked blankly at the others and Naruto grinned at him. "If you really want to know I'll teach you about it later. Right now we need to keep moving. There's something wrong about the feel in the air the closer we get to Sakura..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Gin sat worriedly over his master's body. He had prepared the candles and now all he had left to do was wait... Looking around nervously, he hoped that Sai-sama would miss the fact that he hadn't lit as many candles as he was supposed to; she could get violent over things like that. It was just... The candles had an ingredient that blocked mind powers; Sai never told him exactly WHAT that ingredient was, but it was very affective. It also blocked out unwanted spirits (or any spirit for that matter) and they kept the insects at bay; but they really worried him at times like these where Sai-sama was visiting OUTSIDE her body. If she got too far away from her body there was a good possibility that she wouldn't be able to find her way regardless if that Sakura girl let her out or not.  
  
He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time before moving a hair out of his master's face. Her body was in a trance-like state; the only way it could survive without her spirit. Leaning over her he noticed again how cute she looked when she was asleep. She must really trust him if she's leaving her body unattended like this in his care (especially considering the way she was currently dressed; nothing but beads and a flap of fabric). Of course he knew better than to sneak a peak under the beads or to cop a feel (he'd learned THAT the hard way), but one small kiss, she couldn't notice that, could see?  
  
He knelt over her, glad for a moment that Sai didn't make him dress the way she did. IN a position like this that flimsy cloth wouldn't cover much and the idea of being exposed to the whole forest did NOT hold any appeal. Not that the animals would really care, but there was still that empathic boy wandering around... He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. Failure was not an option, how often did a chance like this come around? Even though they were technically romantically involved the fact of the matter was this type of thing was few and far between. She couldn't get angry with him for a small kiss, right? After all, even a god's patience would be tried at the lack of physical contact in their relationship. Closing his eyes he brought his face closer to hers, his lips closer...  
  
The next thing he knew Sai-sama was kneeling next to him, there was a painful feeling in his head, stomach and groin. "Ow..." He muttered.  
  
Sai shook her head. "What did you expect? I woke up to see some strange THING looming over my face, did you really think I WOULDN'T attack?" She sneered a bit. "What were you going to do, Gin?" She asked in a low voice. If he didn't know better he'd say she was being seductive.  
  
"Nothing!" He defended quickly. There was NO WAY that she hadn't known it was his face over her, if she could lie about that than he could lie about this. Changing the subject quickly he asked, "So, I take it everything went well?"  
  
Sai stood, stretching a bit. "Yeah, as well as can be expected."  
  
"And the girl?" He asked, standing.  
  
"She isn't happy about it, but it's not like she'd have a choice now. I think she understands that our offer is her best option." Sai's smile turned slightly dark. "And if not..." She turned her head as from the forest walked two men. One she recognized as the shadow man, Ketai. His hood was pulled back to reveal a happy looking middleaged man with a deceivingly fatherly face. The other she guessed from the annoyed, dark look on his face was the empathic boy, Rin. He must be ticked off about the candles. That was a good sign that they probably worked.  
  
Behind the two men came a tall man with a commanding aura. She recognized him easily; she'd known him almost all of his life after all. "Kentaar." She nodded her head in a stiff, formal greeting.  
  
Kentaar laughed and grabbed the girl-like woman, wrapping her in a huge hug. "Sai-sama! Really, you don't have to be like that, you're like an aunt to me!"  
  
Gin stiffened and moved lightly towards them, but one warning glare from Sai, who was still caught up in the massive embrace, and he stopped in his tracks. Kentaar's servants moved a little closer to him. Just enough to give the warning that attacking their master was NOT an action that would hold no repercussions.  
  
Kentaar laughed deeper as he looked at Gin and put Sai down. "This must be your new boy? Quite attached to you, isn't he?" He walked slowly around Gin. "He's quite good looking, but then, you always liked that in a man. Naruto-niisan was always your favorite." He turned to look at Sai, then he sat on the ground cross legged right outside the bone circle with a grin on his face. Unlike Naruto's grin, which held laugher and joy, this grin was a twisted dark thing, almost frightening in its intensity. "That's why I know you plan on betraying me even with your little candles. But I also know that you loved that witch he married as if she had been your own daughter and THAT is why I choose you for this. I trust your love for her far outweighs your hate for what I'm asking you to do."  
  
Sai's face was stone cold as she looked away from Kentaar. He had been such a cute child, really. So innocent and pure, just like Naruto. HOW had he gotten so twisted? "I said I'd do it. A shaman never goes back on her word. As promised, at the height of the moon's climb in the sky tonight, Illia will have a body once more."  
  
Almost as if on cue the sound of a lone wolf howling rose in the forest. The sound was picked up by another wolf and then another until it was almost deafening. Sai looked down at the pink haired girl's body and sighed. It was time. The procedure would take a full twenty minutes, during that time she would be in a trance like state. She looked to Gin. The man bowed, "Sai-sama, I will protect you with my life."  
  
Kentaar watched in amusement as Sai began meditating, but he remained silent. After a few moments her head snapped up from her stance and she body began dancing and moving over the pink haired girl's body. Gin looked to Kentaar, standing against a tall tree, his back to the shaman in a watchful stance over the forest he sighed. "It's started."  
  
Kentaar grinned like a child on Christmas and turned also to face the darkness of the forest. Everything was perfect. It would all go as planned... Soon he would be reunited with his brother, soon...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kasai paused again in his running as the sound of wolves howling rose to an almost deafening level. The humans seemed wary by it, too.  
  
"Shit, what is that?" Uzu asked, eyes wide. "I sounds like they're signaling the start of something."  
  
Naruto nodded, glancing around. "Well, at least it's covering the sound of our approach." He turned, pointing to the group's right. "Do you guys see those lights?"  
  
Kasai nodded, "That's where the scent is leading us, but... There are other scents mixed in now."  
  
"Oi, Mina! Are you OK?" Uzu ran to his sister's side. She had collapsed on the ground and was shaking like a leaf. "What's the matter?"  
  
Mina looked up from her brother's arms, face deathly pale. "I-He's there. He's waiting for us." She looked towards the lights then buried her face in her brother's arms. "I'm scared."  
  
Naruto looked down at his daughter, then gently pried her from Uzu's grasp and jumped quickly up a tall nearby tree. "You wait here, OK?" He said gently, nestling her next to the trunk on a large branch. "Everything will be alright, we'll get Sakura back and all go home together, so just wait for us here."  
  
Mina nodded, looking away. "I'm sorry Naruto-sama. I really wanted to fight by your side."  
  
Naruto grinned and ruffled her hair. "Hey, there'll be plenty of time for that latter, right? Right now let me protect you." Then he jumped down to the others, grin still in place. "You know, they probably expect us to attack from that direction, what do you say we catch 'em from behind?"  
  
Kasai made a fox style grin and laughed. "I'd say our chances of being able to do that are slim, runt. But it sounds just like you."  
  
Uzu's face had an excited grin on it and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Front or behind, either way, lets just get this over with!"  
  
Naruto's grin grew as he jumped into a nearby tree, "Alright! Follow me!" Looking over his shoulder he called, "Mina! Don't worry we'll be back before you know it!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *Looking eagerly at readers, ear stapled back onto head, but at an odd angle* SO? Is it better than last chapter? I think that last chapter didn't go over as I hoped, although that's not completely unexpected... *brightening* But this chapter has a LOT more Naruto in it, right?  
  
Sakura: Yeah, but you cut me out completely!  
  
Psychic King: *grinning* Uh... Originally I DID have you in the chapter, but your part didn't flow right, so I wrote about Gin and Sai instead.  
  
Sakura: *Glaring* I hate you.  
  
Psychic King: *pouting* Is that really a nice thing to say on MY Birthday?  
  
Naruto: *waving hands* Oi! We think we can sew that ear back on properly now!  
  
Psychic King: *smiling* Yay!!!!! I DON'T have to look like a freak when I go out tonight!  
  
Sakura: *looking suspicious* 'Go out?' You got a man?  
  
Psychic King: *blushing* Well... something like that...  
  
Uzu: *grabbing Psychic King by the shoulders and dragging her to a nervous looking Iruka* And you spend all your time with US?  
  
Psychic King: Well, he's not as cute as Gaara-chan and Naruto are.  
  
Tenmar: *shaking head* WHY do you like that sadistic red head so much? From what I hear EVERY time you're near him he bites off a piece of your body!  
  
Psychic King: *blushing* He's showing his love!  
  
Iruka: *holding up a needle and thread* OK, now I've never done this before so... hold still...  
  
Psychic King: *looking to readers* Anyway!!!! Thanks all for reading the chapter! Comments, criticisms, Birthday well wishing (hint, hint!)... ALL will be accepted and appreciated!! Hee hee hee!  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* Using your birthday to get reviews, eh?  
  
Psychic King: Hey! Whatever works! Anyway, last chapter I added a link to the website that had a great fan art picture and it didn't work! So I'm going to try one more time and if it don't work e-mail me and I'll try to e- mail you the link if you really want to see it (once again my e-mail address is Psychic_King@hotmail.com). The link is here:  
  
  
  
Hopefully it worked this time.... Um.... Anyway, that's about it for now...... I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!!!! Next chapter lots of violence (I've put it off for long enough...)! I know you are all thinking what kind of idiot updates on their birthday, but now I'm off to enjoy myself! 


	18. Embrace of Rescue Part II

Psychic King: *yawning* FINALLY... The week from hell is over......... I survived...  
  
Sakura: What are you talking about?  
  
Psychic King: You may have noticed that I haven't been around much recently...  
  
Sakura: *nodding* Not that I'm really complaining...  
  
Psychic King: *tiredly* hai, hai... Well, there are actual reasons for that, you see... The first is, of course, still going through and hanging out with people and talking to people about my birthday. I mean it was only last week, and in my family birthdays have a tendency to last for a lot longer than that... But the OTHER reason is that this week is known as hell week for college students everywhere. Well, maybe not this EXACT week. But this week is the week that falls dead in the middle of the semester for me. Any college student knows that that equals every professor deciding to have a major test and/or project due. I'm taking FIVE classes. TWO of those five classes had a major ¼-1/5 of my entire grade style test. TWO more of my classes had GROUP presentations due this week, and ONE of my classes had a major quiz (not as important) and assignment due this week. *SIGH* I'm in need of a major nap, but I RAELLY wanted to get this chapter out before I take a couple vegetation days, you see?  
  
Sakura: *nodding* yeah, that makes sense; you writers are always so pathetic. Worry about yourself before you write for the fans next time, idiot. You look like the walking dead.  
  
Psychic King: *waving Sakura away* Well, since I've been so out of it, I can't say if this chapter is the best, and of course on top of that I don't think action is my strongest thing to write... Anyway, that means that I'm just gonna make these author's notes short and sweet, the only important info for this chapter that you need to know right now is this: I DON'T OWN NARUTO. Thanks. *falling in a heap onto the floor snoring*  
  
Sakura: *poking at Psychic King* Ano... Psychic King-sama..? Did you forget? You were gonna tell the readers one more thing before they read... *giving up* Fine! I'll just tell them. *looking at the readers suspiciously* I KNOW you people have it in for me, I KNOW you all want to see me dead... But, I'll still tell you the important information... 'cause I'm a good person. Doesn't that make you want to stop asking Psychic King-sama to kill me? *looks at readers blank faces* Right... So, what you need to know is this; this chapter has Rin's mind reading abilities surfacing, so when he reads minds the text will be in italics so it will look like this: "This is when Rin is reading someone's mind."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Gin looked around carefully, glancing with equal distrust at Kentaar as he looked at the dark forest. WHY did all these ceremonies seem to have to take place at night? And why did he get the distinct feeling that he was the only person that was really hurting from low visibility? Not that he was hurting MUCH, but... He sincerely hoped that when the pink haired girl's friends showed up that they would realize that things were NOT how they seemed. That would make his job ridiculously simple. All he'd have to worry about in that case was making sure no one knocked Sai-sama's body or disturbed the ceremony.  
  
He had a feeling that things would not be that easy, however. Not that it really mattered, when it came down to it, the only person he really cared about, the only thing that was important in all of this was Sai- sama's safety. He was more than prepared to kill even an innocent to protect that. This wouldn't be the first time.  
  
Kentaar leaned back in a luxurious manner, a sneer on his face. Gin sighed, he had the distinct impression that the man was trying to taunt him or mock him. Of course, maybe he was just thinking about his brother, he didn't seem to have his eyes focused on anything in particular and his back was to the part of the forest that the rescuers were most likely to arrive. He seemed to be intently staring at rock wall behind them, in fact. Gin spared a glance behind him to look at looming wall. It would be a major pain and completely slow the heroes down to come that way; the chances of them choosing to take that route were slim to none.  
  
Shaking his head in annoyance he turned his attention back to the forest. The corner of his eyes caught on the empathic boy, who was carefully edging himself towards the candles, eyes open in an almost innocent, curious manner. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you. Breathing in too much of the fragrance could have an adverse long lasting effect on your 'gift.'"  
  
Rin glanced at the shaman's servant; he hadn't been able to read anything from him since even before the candles were lit. It was making it exceptionally hard for him to feel comfortable around him. "I was just curious what it was made out of."  
  
Gin smiled, feeling a genuine sympathy for the boy. "You'd probably love to get a break from other people's minds, eh?" He walked over, patting the boy's shoulder, hand brushing his arm. Rin recoiled a bit as a sudden inflow of Gin's thoughts and feelings entered him. Gin removed his hand from the boy's shoulder with a grin. "But it's not completely powerful enough to block everything at close contact, is it?"  
  
Rin moved away from the man, wrapping his arms around himself defensively. Gin's mind was... focused, strong, almost innocent or pure. He knew what was going to happen to the pink haired human girl and he wasn't pleased with it, but regardless of whatever was going to happen he was steadfast in his resolve to protect his master. His feelings were very strong when it came to that woman. It was obvious from just watching them that they were closer than master and servant, but the depths of his feelings were not something Rin had ever seen or felt before. Not even the brief family life he had known was comparable.  
  
"Look, when this is all over, if you really want, Sai-sama might be able to come up with something to help you at bit at least, would you like that?" Gin smiled down kindly at the boy.  
  
Rin nodded mutely up at the man, mesmerized by his emotions. Now that they had touched he could feel all sorts of slight waves from him despite the candles; the man, Gin, must have willingly opened some sort of connection between them. He smiled slightly, eyes wide.  
  
Gin grinned and once again patted Rin's back. "Great. You're a decent kid, you know that?"  
  
The darkness man snorted, face blank. "You haven't seen our little Rin fight, boy. It's hard to think of someone like him as a decent person after you've seen that kind of merciless carnage."  
  
Rin shot the man a dry look, "That's enough Keitai." His voice held more than a little edge to it, and Gin watched in surprise as Keitai bowed his head, apologizing. Rin shook his own head. "No, he's not scared of me," the boy said, answering the question that was going through the top of Gin's mind. "He's just being annoy-"  
  
All eyes attention diverted from their conversation as Kentaar stood, eyes alight. His face was in rapt attention at the solid wall of rock before them. "Stop bickering boys, we've got important company."  
  
"Aw, you saw right through me..." A voice called from far above. Suddenly an orange and blonde blur was falling quickly through the sky, landing with a thump just outside the bone circle Sai was chanting over Sakura in. "We'll be taking Sakura back now, you bastards!" Naruto stood firmly before them, a dark smile twisting his face, his eyes focused solely on Kentaar.  
  
Kentaar moved forward, towards Naruto, his attention as fixated on Naruto as the blonde's was on him. "It's been a long time, brother..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sorry it took me so long to catch up, Iruka." Tenmar said, allowing his eyes a long moment to travel down the brunette's body. "You're alright?"  
  
Iruka nodded, eyes wide. "But that fox's really hurt. I told him to stay down, I told him I'd be fine..."  
  
Tenmar pulled his eyes away from Iruka, moving to Aidan he gathered the fox into his arms. "Geeze, you're a lot more trouble than you're worth, making Iruka worry and everything."  
  
Aidan wheezed, blood falling from his mouth as he took in a labored breath, "So stop summoning me then, brat."  
  
Tenmar laughed, carrying the fox over to Iruka. "I would, but I'd miss your pleasant company too much."  
  
The fox wheezed again, Iruka thought perhaps the fox was trying to laugh, but it was hard to tell, every time he did it he convulsed in pain. Tenmar gently lay the fox down next to Iruka. His body still looked... part fox part human. "Are you going to be OK by yourself?" Iruka asked, feeling guilty for his drugged state.  
  
Tenmar's foxish face turned sharply towards the Kakashi-doppelganger which was beginning to slowly rise to its feet. "Take care of Aidan, Iruka. I'll get rid of this monster, just leave him to me; I'll be fine without your help. And..." He trailed off, Iruka swore that he was blushing under all that fur, but maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. "And, watch me. I'll protect you for sure."  
  
Iruka blushed, nodding. Even though he looked like a freak of nature right now, Iruka wasn't sure he'd ever thought anybody (except perhaps Kakashi) was as cool as Tenmar was to him at that exact moment. "Yeah. I'll watch you."  
  
The Kakashi look alike was now standing, moving slowly towards Tenmar. "Isn't that sweet? You've got a little crush, eh Tenmar? Well, maybe you'll get lucky and be allowed to die with him, how does that sound?"  
  
Quicker than Iruka's eyes could follow Tenmar was suddenly standing before the man, punching him hard in the face then chest. "The only one that's gonna die today is YOU, bastard."  
  
The doppelganger flew backwards then twisted his body into a flip, landing gently on his feet. "That talk doesn't mean much unless you've got the power to back it up... or the will." The Kakashi clone grinned, hurtling himself head first towards Tenmar. He landed a head butt square in the center of Tenmar's chest.  
  
Tenmar coughed as the air rushed from his lungs, then he grabbed his opponent by his silver hair, holding securely onto his head he slammed it roughly into the ground and then straddled the man, pinning his arms behind his back. "I've got more than enough power to take care of something like you."  
  
"Oh really?" The doppelganger replied, his body shifting. Iruka feared what form would be next, obviously this creature somehow knew what face to take on to upset his victims, how else would he know to take on the form of Sakura's mother or Kakashi? But the creature remained Kakashi; just instead of being on his stomach he was now suddenly on his back. "Then why don't you kill me? I'm totally vulnerable right now." He tilted his head back so that he was completely exposing his throat to the man on top of him. "If you slit my throat and separate my head from my body I'll die, you know that, don't you? After all, you've fought my kind before..."  
  
Tenmar snarled, jumping off the man and releasing his hands. He quickly pulled four crude looking kunai out of a flap in his pants, snarl on his lips. The doppelganger laughed as Tenmar put space between them. "Afraid of a little contact? Or are you worried that your little Iruka-san will find out about-" His words were cut off as the kunai hit their target, slamming into his side and stomach.  
  
Tenmar snarled. "I'm just warming up."  
  
"Good. I won't hold back, then." The Kakashi look alike darted high into the trees. "Come get me, fox-boy. If you dare."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"It's been a long time, brother..." Kentaar's voice rang through Naruto's head. He was vaguely aware of Uzu and Sasuke landing quietly behind him, and he knew there was a woman standing near Sakura, someone familiar... But beyond that his attention was focused on Kentaar, his brother, his enemy.  
  
"Daddy, you'd better let me handle that half-wolf bastard. You and Sasuke just worry about getting Saku-" His trailed off as Naruto ignored his comments and walked slowly towards Kentaar.  
  
Eyes already red in hue, Naruto growled softly. "I've been waiting for this for twelve long years."  
  
"As have I, brother." Kentaar's eyes were suddenly glowing yellow, also walking forward. They reached each other and stood in solemn silence for a long moment, looking at each other, measuring each other.  
  
Uzu's face took on a desperate look as he watched his father face contort in anger and rage and Kentaar's smirking face, mocking the blonde's rage. It was just like that day; the day his mother and father were both taken away from him. "Daddy, please! You're not thinking strait! We have to save Sakura-chan!"  
  
Sasuke glanced around as Uzu screamed. There were four of them besides Kentaar. Three men and a woman, but she seemed to be occupied with some sort of chanting over Sakura's body. If Naruto was flaking out during this fight they would be in BIG trouble. "Oi! Get a grip, dobe!" Sasuke grabbed a stick and launched it at Naruto's head.  
  
Naruto screamed and tripped a bit as the stick connected with his head. He turned angry blue eyes towards Sasuke. "What the hell'd you do THAT for, Sasuke-bastard?" He demanded, stomping his foot.  
  
"Keep your eyes on your enemy, idiot!" Sasuke snapped back, rolling his eyes and moving into a more defensive manner as two of the three men began closing in on him and Uzu.  
  
"Keitai, Rin, teach those two interlopers not in interrupt a reunion between brothers." Kentaar said off handedly.  
  
Naruto grinned at Sasuke and Uzu, face returned to normal. "Hey, show 'em who they're messing with and beat them down!"  
  
"I'd do that without you telling me to, dobe." Sasuke replied smirking as Naruto bristled a bit.  
  
"Big words, asshole." The younger of the two men said, reaching out and grabbing Sasuke by the collar. "But I think you need a lesson in manners, you see Kentaar-sama was talking to his brother just now; you shouldn't interrupt."  
  
"I don't see why I should take lessons in manners from an evil bastard such as yourself." Sasuke replied, aiming a punch at the boy.  
  
Rin laughed and jumped easily away from Sasuke's fist, but inside he was worried. This was NOT a good situation. The candles were disrupting his ability and unless he could actually find a way to remain in constant contact with Sasuke's skin he wasn't going to be able to maintain a link with the boy. It was not until this moment, when his powers were cut off, that he realized just how much he relied on them.  
  
"You're hesitating." Sasuke said annoyance clear on his face. He glanced over to see Uzu already circling the tall plain looking older man with the dark cloak then he noticed that the third man had already seated himself back down outside the bone circle, ignoring the fighting going on around him. Sighing, Sasuke turned back to Rin. Why was he stuck with the weak opponent?  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Rin turned, glancing over his shoulder he called, "You shouldn't underestimate me, kid. If you want a fight follow me." That said he jumped into a nearby tree and started jumping away from the clearing. He continued to do so until his mind was picking up clearly thoughts of the forest, behind him he could also hear the thoughts of an annoyed boy wondering if the idiot he was following was ever going to actually fight him. Rin turned as those thoughts reached his mind, smirking. "You sure you want to do this, kid?"  
  
Sasuke returned the smirk, crossing his arms. "Are you sure you're done running?" "I want to get this over with, damn it... I wonder how Naruto's doing."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Whoo..." Uzu's voice dripped sarcasm as his opponent pulled on his hood and his face disappeared into the darkness. "That's one fancy cloak ya got there, buddy."  
  
Keitai snickered. "You're pretty fancy yourself. What's with those red eyes? Must run in the family."  
  
Uzu turned his head quickly to the right. Was the man's voice coming from a different direction as his body? He glanced back towards the man, suddenly realizing that the man's body was perfectly blended with the night. He looked back to the direction the man's voice had been a moment before, but there was still only darkness. "Naw..." Uzu replied looking around. "It's like a predator having a bright coat; it's to warn my prey to stay away from me. Of course, it's not often that I get prey that's not smart enough to run away..."  
  
"Oh?" The voice replied from behind Uzu's head. Uzu turned, but the voice had already moved around to his left. "I must be pretty stupid, then. Or maybe I'm not the prey..."  
  
Uzu nodded, continuing to turn this direction then that as the voice moved from spot to spot. "Yeah, I guess that's possible. You look too bony to be worth while meat anyway, so I could turn my attention to that other guy leaning against the tree, but..." He shrugged, circling. "I'm not the kind of guy that can easily shift my attentions once I've got my sights set on something."  
  
"I can see you must be a terror to the ladies, then." Keitai replied directly in Uzu's ear.  
  
Uzu immediately grabbed for the source of the warm breath against his cheek, but even as he did so the man was gone. "Wouldn't know, I've never met a lady worth my attention."  
  
"Really?" The voice held surprise. "I guess more than the eyes run in the family. Is it true that your father is favoring that young dark haired boy these days? Your mother must be rolling in her grave."  
  
Uzu stood still for a moment, face down, eyes shut. His hands were balled into fists and his shoulders were shaking slightly.  
  
"Of course," Keitai continued, "I can't really blame your father, what with your mother being so miserably weak. At least one can only hope that THIS one is a little more useful. Don't you think?" Keitai looked down at the red head, noticing that his fists were shaking. "Oh dear, did I hit a sore spot?"  
  
Uzu un-balled his hands, looking up, in a voice filled with rage he screamed, "DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!"  
  
Keitai moved quickly away, cursing under his breath. He wanted to provoke the red haired boy, yes, but he was suddenly realizing that Uzu had gone strait past 'provoked' directly to 'murderous rage.' Luckily the red head still hadn't been able to find him-  
  
Uzu's face took on a sinister smirk as his hand grasped firmly around Keitai's arm. "Caught ya."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto watched with concern as Sasuke disappeared behind the strange looking boy. The sound of snickering caused his attention to shift back. "You always did have an eye for beauty." Kentaar said, stretching his arms above his head. "You were never very subtle about hiding your emotions, either."  
  
Naruto narrowed his eyes as his focus went back to his brother. "I don't want to hear that kind of compliment from you." He replied; voice even. "Are we gonna do this or should I end your miserable existence right here and now?"  
  
Kentaar smiled, moving closer. "I don't know... You remember what happened the last time you tried to fight with me... also, YOU are a lot weaker than you were before, but I have spent the last twelve years getting stronger for this very moment, are you sure this fight is completely fair?"  
  
"Fair?" Naruto said, his body shifting stances to a more offensive pose. "You want to kill me, Kentaar? Come on; let's see which of us has the stronger will."  
  
Kentaar threw back his head and laughed, "You haven't changed at all..."  
  
"We'll see." Naruto said, dashing forward, fist raised. Kentaar spun easily away, grabbing Naruto's arm and flinging the small blonde roughly against a tree. "Ow." Naruto rose easily to his feet, sheepish grin on his face. He straitened his expression, once again preparing to charge.  
  
"You know, this reminds me a bit of watching you fight against Tagen- niisan way back when..." Naruto jumped above Kentaar's head and disappeared in the trees. With a laugh Kentaar jumped to follow him. "Trying to hi-" His words caught in his throat as Naruto's foot connected with the back of his head, sending him hurtling towards the ground.  
  
"Let's get one thing strait, bastard. I don't want to reminisce about the past with YOU at all. As far as I'm concerned you are NOT my brother." Naruto replied jumping back from Kentaar's body as the man rose slightly shakily to his feet. "So shut up and fight."  
  
Kentaar wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth as he moved towards Naruto. "Have it your way, just don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're small, brother."  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way, asshole." Naruto replied, "I wouldn't have it any other way..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Gin watched with interest as Naruto performed some sort of hand seals, calling out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly there were twelve Naruto's each one screaming out, "OK, here I go!" And then they jumped at the wolf man.  
  
One by one Kentaar knocked them down. As each copy was hit they disappeared in a small puff of smoke until only one Naruto remained. Gin smiled. Just because Sai-sama was working for Kentaar did NOT mean that Gin wanted him to win this fight. In fact, both he and Sai were rather hoping that Naruto and his family would rid the world of Kentaar's evil taint.  
  
Gin had never met the fox demon before he became the young boy before him, but he had heard many stories from Sai-sama. Apparently she had been friends with his wife, Illia both before AND after the woman's untimely demise. According to the stories he was unrivaled in raw power, and clever enough to come up with plans completely on the fly. Despite his duty and desire to remain attentive to his master, he found himself constantly flashing his attention completely back to Naruto and Kentaar's fight.  
  
That was why he almost missed the red streak that flashed from the corner of the clearing, strait towards where Sai-sama was still chanting over the pink haired girl; almost. Acting quickly he jumped towards the fox, managing to catch the creature just as it was jumping over the circle of bones; luckily before the animal's feet managed to touch inside the circle. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to disturb them at this time." He said, hand clasped tightly around Kasai's neck.  
  
Kasai's eyes widened as he looked at his captor. He rolled his eye towards the circle where the shaman's canting was growing even more urgent. "You two?"  
  
Gin bowed his head, "I apologize Kasai-san, but as I said, I can not allow you to interrupt the ceremony."  
  
Kasai's sharp claws snaked out and slashed at Gin's arm, causing the man to release the fox. "I see. Well, if that's how it's gonna be..."  
  
Gin nodded, taking a defensive stance in front of the circle. "I hate to do this, but if you're going to persist I'm going to have to fight you."  
  
"Yeah, well, I hate to do this, too, but I told them I'd get the girl back, you see. I'd hate to disappoint the runt on the first mission he's given me since his return, you know?" The fox did a motion that seemed kind of like a shrug.  
  
"Fine." Gin shook his head in a slightly disappointed way. "Let's just make this look good, OK?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *lifting head from nap and looking at readers; yawning* Well, please tell me what you think and leave a review. If you have any suggestions on how to make next chapter better please let me know that, too. I wanted to thank EVERYBODY that gave me a happy birthday review; it was great and made me feel special! An extra special thanks to Abby-chan who sent me a great happy birthday picture! I think there was something else I was supposed to mention, but I'm way too beat... If you'll all excuse me I'm gonna sleep for the next couple days, OK? *head falls back down onto the floor and snoring resumes*  
  
Sakura: *peeking head into room and laying a blanket over Psychic King* Oh yeah, if you guys want to e-mail Psychic King-sama, please do it at Psychic_King@hotmail.com  
  
Psychic King: *popping head up suddenly* I remember!!!! This chapter marks the point in my story that is very special. This chapter is my over 100,000 words chapter!!!!! Hurray!! *holds hands up in a victorious manner, then drops head back down, hitting the floor with a thumping sound*  
  
Sakura: *shaking head* GO TO SLEEP, IDIOT! *stalks away* 


	19. Embrace of Rescue Part III

Naruto: *walking happily through Psychic King space, suddenly trips* Huh? What the hell is this??!!?? *pointing down at the ground, where a large root looking thing has appeared*  
  
Sasuke: *walking next to him* I don't know, but they're showing up everywhere... *moves to the left as the root grows quickly, wrapping itself around what seems to be a collection of roots growing in front of what the Naruto characters know as the portal to Psychic King's room*  
  
Tenmar: *hacking at the mass of roots viciously* Damn it! Where is Psychic King-sama? She left the story off in a place like THAT, and now she's been gone for over a week!!  
  
Uzu: *nodding, and joining in the fight against the roots* I know! She SAID she was tired, but there's no way she could have slept for almost two weeks, right? She NEVER takes this long to update!  
  
Sakura: *shrugging, and ogling Sasuke* Maybe she's dead or something...  
  
Psychic King: *VERY faintly from the other side of the mess of roots* I heard that, Sakura-chan!  
  
Naruto: *joining Uzu and Tenmar in fighting off the roots* I think she's trapped in her room 'cause of these roots...  
  
Iruka: *Almost trips over a new root, but Kakashi grabs him and moves him out of the way* Whoa, that was close... *looks adoringly up at Kakashi*  
  
Kakashi: *still holding Iruka tight* What the hell was that? Iruka could have been hurt!  
  
Tenmar: *nodding; screams towards the portal to Psychic King's room* You hear that? You almost got Iruka hurt with these things? Why don't you do something about it?  
  
Psychic King: *faintly calls something*  
  
Sakura: *Straining her ears* what was that? Something about wiring blocks?  
  
Naruto: *shaking his head* No... She said 'Writer's block' I'm sure of it.  
  
Tenmar: *eyes widening* This may be a serious problem, then...  
  
Kakashi: *nodding and pointing to a pile of discarded characters off to the side, shriveled and dieing* That's what happened to the last story she started writing, when she got writer's block!  
  
Naruto: *looking over* What??? How come I never noticed them before?  
  
Sakura: *rolling eyes* Really! You are such an idiot, aren't you? *shaking head* Anyway, if she gets writer's block that can't happen to us, because we're not really hers, right? So it's not like it matters.  
  
Uzu: *grabbing Sakura by the collar and lifting her off the ground* Say that again, little girl!  
  
Tenmar: *grabbing Uzu's hand and pulling him off Sakura* Don't! She wasn't thinking. Right now we've got to worry about how to remove those roots before we become like those guys!  
  
Kakashi: *nodding* Tell us what to do! Iruka and I will help!  
  
Naruto: Me and Sasuke, too, damn it! I'm not letting MY kids fade away and get all pathetic!  
  
Sakura: *looking at the ground* I'm really sorry... I forgot that you weren't-  
  
Uzu: *cutting Sakura off and hugging Naruto* Daddy! You're going to save us!  
  
Sasuke: *glares at Uzu*  
  
Sakura: *looking annoyed at being cut off* Really!  
  
Tenmar: *smiling at Sakura* Now, now, he doesn't really mean anything by it, you know.  
  
Ganten: *appearing from the darkness* Uh... guys, if we're going to save ourselves we gotta do it now...  
  
Uzu: *lets go of Naruto* You're right! Lets get to work!  
  
Entire cast of Embrace of Solitude: *nods and rushes forward to hack at the plants*  
  
Psychic King: *from inside bedroom* Writer's block sucks... *thinks for a moment* wait... I feel a bit of inspiration coming on... *rolls up sleeves* ALRIGHT! Time to get back to writing!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 19  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way, asshole." Naruto replied to Kentaar's with a smile  
  
The tall man grinned as Naruto's words reached him, signaling the start of their fight. Resisting the urge to use his special 'gift' right away Kentaar settled for dodging as twelve Naruto clones rushed at him from different angles. "You've learned a few new tricks, eh?" Kentaar grinned as they attacked him from every angle imaginable, kicking, punching and even biting. Kentaar gracefully jumped to a branch higher in the trees, one by one knocking the clones down until one the original remained.  
  
"I won't loose to you!" Naruto practically screamed, once again forming the seal to call upon his clones. The fact that not even one of the clones managed to get even close to landing a blow was NOT going to detour the blonde this time. He needed to do something until he could come up with an adequate plan, anyway.  
  
Kentaar clicked his tong in disappointment, "I'll admit it was a clever trick, but how many times do you intend to use it? Even if it's you, my beloved brother, I'll get bored if you continue on this way. Don't you know any other tricks?"  
  
"Shut up!" The clones called in unison, each a little wilder looking than before. Naruto's eyes widened as an idea struck him. As soon as all of his clones had been knocked away once again by Kentaar he performed the seal once again; creating only two clones this time. Placing more chakara into the clones than normal he sent the first off to attack Kentaar. Hopefully that extra amount of chakara would be enough to keep the clone around after a few hits from Kentaar. That should be enough time for what Naruto was planning.  
  
Kentaar watched in amusement as Naruto sent only one clone towards him. "You think this'll be enough to stop me, brother?" Laughing darkly he dodged the clone's first attack, a kick towards his stomach followed by a punch at the groin. He knocked the clone quickly and harshly to the ground and turned towards Naruto, not even watching to see if it would disappear like the others. "Stop sending these weakling clones against me, unless that's all you've got-" His words were cut off as a blow landed firmly in the back of his neck.  
  
Turning Kentaar saw the clone behind him, grinning. "Not done yet, bastard." The clone mocked, grinning proudly.  
  
Kentaar turned darkly towards the clone, whipping a trickle of spittle from the corner of his mouth. "So he's making you stronger, now? But that trick won't work twice. I won't be taken by surprise again."  
  
The clone stuck out its tong, smacking his butt in a mocking fashion. "You want a piece of this? Come and get me!"  
  
Kentaar rolled his eyes, hoping as he did so that these clones were not an accurate representation of his brother's true strength. He would be very disappointed if this was the best struggle Naruto could offer him. Of course, any struggle would be futile, but at least he liked to see him attempt to fight, it would be dull otherwise. Knocking down the clone again he looked over to see Naruto sitting cross legged on the ground, holding his hand against his head. This time he waited for the tell tale popping sound and the small poof of smoke before turning his full attention to the blonde. "I've played with your little clone long enough, brother. As much as I hate to stop you from planning, I fear I AM getting bored, so unless you..."  
  
Kentaar's words trailed off as Naruto's second clone rushed at him. "My turn!"  
  
Kentaar rolled his eyes, glancing over at the real Naruto. Before the clone could even properly attack Kentaar quickly and viciously pummeled it to the ground, knocking it at least five times as hard as he had knocked any of the others, causing it to disappear with an enormous poof sound. "I'm through playing, little boy. If you're not coming to me, I'll have to go to you."  
  
Naruto jumped to his feet grinning as Kentaar approached. "I got it!" Performing an almost identical looking seal he yelled out, "Advanced Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Come get me fox-boy, if you dare!" Tenmar watched with a wry smile as the doppelganger disappeared up the tree.  
  
"I should warn you..." Tenmar said, moving slowly towards the tree, "running away from me is probably the stupidest move you could've made." Iruka watched in wonder as Tenmar leapt swiftly up the tree and disappeared. He could still hear his voice calling out to the Kakashi look- alike, though, taunting the man, "You've never fought a fox before have you? My eyes are a thousand times sharper than those of a wolf. Hunting small game; rats, field mice, rabbits; we've perfected the art of finding small, worthless, camouflaged creatures such as yourself. With me like this..." Iruka winced as Tenmar sent out a blood-curdling howl. "You don't stand a chance of hiding. In fact... I already know exactly where you are. You can read my surface thoughts, the images that are lying on the top of my mind, right? That's a trick of your trade, isn't it?" Tenmar paused, but no answer returned to him. "Ah, yes... I see you know I'm telling the truth, don't you? You're shaking like a leaf in the wind. How about I help put you out of my misery?"  
  
There was a startled yelping noise, followed by the thudding sound of a body falling through the trees. The next thing Iruka knew, the doppelganger came crashing to the ground in front of him, there were over twenty crude looking throwing stars stuck into him. Jumping to his feet, the doppelganger yanked them out of his body, a grey oozing substance poured out of his body. Iruka also noticed that the clone was starting to loose it's Kakashi form, the face was becoming a bit misshapen and the hair was starting to... shrink; that was the only word Iruka could think to describe it. With a shriek of pain and rage the creature launched itself at Iruka, throwing the knives before it.  
  
Iruka flinched back, grabbing the half dead fox and pushing it as much behind him as his drugged limbs could manage. "Damn it!" He cursed, wishing that he wasn't drugged, as it was he couldn't see strait enough to block any of the kunai. He closed his eyes, not wanting the last thing he saw to be Kakashi (even a deformed Kakashi) sending him the killing blow. That was why he heard rather than felt the thumping sound of the throwing weapons connecting with flesh. He opened his eyes a little, realizing that the impending certain doom of his death had been postponed; the knives aimed at him had been stopped somehow and Tenmar was standing above him.  
  
"What's with that face?" Tenmar's foxish appearance started to fade and Iruka could see the blonde smiling, blue eyes shining. "Did you really think that I'd let him hurt you? Not when I could save you, I couldn't live with myself after that." The happy face turned dark again and Iruka noticed that Tenmar was now holding the Kakashi clone by the neck, feet dangling a good foot above the ground. He shook the man roughly, causing him to make strangled choking sounds and claw at Tenmar's hand.  
  
Iruka watched as the creature, which could no longer be compared with Kakashi as its hair had almost completely disappeared into the now blue- hued skin, transformed its hands into long sharp knife looking weapons and began to rip and tear at Tenmar's hands and arms desperately. Iruka winced as a chunk of Tenmar's flesh fell with a plop onto the pool of grey and red blood forming underneath the two. Tenmar's face was what Iruka couldn't move his eyes from, however. Now that the fox features were gone he looked like a normal man, blue eyes, long blonde hair, now flying free from the typical pony tail and in his blue eyes was the most determined look Iruka had ever seen. There was no anger, no pain, just pure determination.  
  
Tenmar ignored the throbbing pain in his arms, ignored the stabbing pain in his chest from the throwing stars the doppelganger had attempted to throw at Iruka, ignored the doppelganger's shrieks as he squeezed the life from it; he had only one goal. If he could kill it, if he could squeeze its head off than Iruka would be safe, Aidan would be safe. He would protect those important to him, like his father would have. Like his father was still doing now; whatever it took.  
  
Using the last of his strength, Tenmar released the creature with one hand, tightening his grip with the other, and grabbed at the creature's head. Forcing his fingers into the soft sockets of its eyes he pulled up, using his other hand to yank down. In one fluid motion the creatures head popped off with a disgusting sound of tearing. Tenmar looked at his hands in surprise as one was still closed around what remained of the creatures body, from the other hand dangled the head. "Ha..." Tenmar let out a half sigh, half laugh as he turned to face Iruka; weak smile in place. "I did it."  
  
Iruka's face went from a relieved smile to an anguished look of desperation. He now knew how Tenmar had stopped the kunai the doppelganger had aimed at him. "You idiot!" Iruka screamed, as Tenmar stumbled towards him covered completely in his own blood. "You shielded us with your own body?"  
  
Tenmar grinned weakly collapsing in a heap next to Iruka. "I said I'd protect you." He whispered, wrapping his arms as best he could around the shocked teacher's waist, but the pain was too intense. He eventually settled for laying face down in the other man's lap.  
  
"Don't throw your life away to protect someone like me." Iruka said, tears forming in his eyes. He felt Tenmar whisper something back, but it was muffled against his leg. Mustering some energy he managed to twist Tenmar's body around so the blonde was staring up at him.  
  
Tenmar reached a blood soaked hand up and touched Iruka's cheek. "Don't cry, Iruka... I protected you and Aidan." He paused, drawing in a labored breath. "Protecting people I love... I could die happy now." His hand dropped and Iruka's eyes widened, tears now flowing freely down his face.  
  
"Do you think I can be happy, knowing that you've died for me?" Iruka replied, sobbing, but there was no reply.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Are you sure you're done running?" "I want to get this over with, damn it... I wonder how Naruto's doing."  
  
Rin grinned as he easily picked up Sasuke's thoughts. His powers were back full force. "Worried about your boy friend?" Rin taunted, reading how the dark haired boy's anger flared. It was amazingly ironic, Rin knew, that the very aspect that made him admire Gin (that being the deep love he felt for the shaman) was the very thing fueling his anger against the dark haired boy before him, for Sasuke felt the same deep feelings for the blonde idiot that Gin felt for the shaman. It didn't make sense, why did he resent Sasuke's feelings and admire Gin's...?  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We both have things we'd rather be doing right now, I'm sure. Why don't we skip the pre-fight banter and jump strait to beating the crap out of each other so at least ONE of us can get to those things."  
  
Rin shrugged, nodding. "Fine, pretty boy. Not my normal style, but I can fight you either wa-" He words cut off abruptly as Sasuke jumped strait at him, aiming a kick at his chest, which Rin dodged. The punch towards his neck was less expected and he barely managed to read the move before it happened. If he had moved even a moment later he would probably have spent the next few hours spitting up blood. This Sasuke kid wasn't planning his moves ahead at all. Interesting...  
  
Sasuke grinned as the man responded a little slower to the second attack than he had to the first. Obviously this guy had an amazing ability to see through any attack that had been given more than a moment's consideration, in fact... Sasuke had some ideas about who this guy probably was... "You're from the Dokushin clan, aren't you?"  
  
Rin's eyes narrowed, how had this boy heard of his clan? "I am all that remains of that clan." He replied as he picked Sasuke's brain for what he knew of the clan. Apparently not much more than the name and the fact that they held a mind reading power beyond that of a normal ninja, but without any techniques. Interesting.  
  
Sasuke's mind registered shock. What the hell? How had HIS clan been wiped out? It couldn't have been... An image of his brother immediately crossed Sasuke's mind... It couldn't have been...  
  
Rin shook his head. "There were too many humans there that day for me to remember any specific face; it wasn't an act with any intent. The villagers just got sick of us knowing their dirty little secrets." The last words were practically spit out, and Sasuke recognized the rage, the look in Rin's eyes, the hatred.  
  
"Liar." Sasuke said, leaning back against a tree and thinking. "You remember every single one of them, don't you?" Sasuke leaned his head back sighing. "This just complicated things quite a bit." He said, sinking down to the ground. "You see, as the last of each of our clans, I can't bring myself to kill you. If we fight now I'll have a significant disadvantage because I can't be surprising AND hold back my blows, but if I don't hold back my blows I could kill you." Sasuke sighed again. This was Naruto's fault, he was sure of it. Making him actually care about someone being the last of his clan... But the fact still remained, he felt a sort of kinship to the boy.  
  
Rin also sighed, leaning back against a tree some distance away. "Shit." Now that the dark haired boy's will to fight was gone so was his... The worst part was, Sasuke was neither pitying him nor acting repulsed by him, even though he obviously knew that his mind was being read, he simply... accepted him. "You're right, this must be Naruto's fault." Rin said, picking up Sasuke's blaming thoughts. He wasn't quite sure why, but somehow Sasuke felt that knowing Naruto was causing this problem for himself, and in causing this problem for Sasuke it was likewise causing Rin problems.  
  
Rin jumped to his feet, someone was approaching, fast from Kentaar's encampment. The thoughts sounded like... Inuko? There was another person approaching from the north. "I think we just solved our problem." Rin said, dusting off his rear. "One of my comrades is approaching from the west, one of yours from the north."  
  
Sasuke nodded, "So we just switch fighting partners?"  
  
Rin shrugged, "Sounds like the only choice we've got if we want to be in this battle."  
  
"You're pretty casual about telling me one of your teammates is approaching." Sasuke said, warily.  
  
"I'm not here for the company." Rin said, face dark.  
  
Sasuke nodded, understanding. "Ah, revenge. Good luck with that." Turning towards the North, he made a mental note not to care if this one was the last of its species even; he was going to kill it.  
  
Rin nodded, "Yeah, you too..."  
  
Sasuke nodded at Ganten as he landed next to the dark haired boy. Ganten raised an eyebrow. "What's going on here?" He said, glaring at Sasuke as he did so, this was not quite the scene he was hoping to come in on.  
  
"I can't kill this guy and I can't catch him by surprise unless I plan on killing him." Sasuke said, shrugging slightly. "I was hoping that you could take care of him and I'll take his partner."  
  
"Why can't you kill him?" Ganten asked.  
  
"I don't want to." Sasuke replied, glaring. "I don't really want YOU to kill him either, but do what you have to."  
  
Ganten made a dark face at Sasuke. "I'd do that without YOU telling me to, bastard." "You're not my fucking mother yet."  
  
Rin, smirked as he read Ganten's thoughts. This guy would be a better partner, after all.  
  
"Oh, yeah..." Sasuke said, returning his gaze towards the North. "He can read minds."  
  
"Lazy bastard." Ganten shot at Sasuke, while he rounded on the enemy. "I don't know what daddy sees in you."  
  
"I don't understand it, either." Rin said, grinning at Ganten.  
  
Ganten's face took on an annoyed look as he remembered his opponent. So now he was supposed to fight someone that could read his mind perfectly. "Why me? I don't even take a shit without thinking about it first, now I've gotta fight someone that'll know immediately what I'm gonna do as soon as I think of it. And worse yet, SASUKE doesn't want me to kill him... Bastard." Suddenly a howling sound reached his ears. IT was different from the wolves, who were still going crazy at the moon, damn wolves... This was different, it was... Uzu... "SHIT!"  
  
Sasuke turned his head slightly to stare at the other boy. "What's wrong with YOU?"  
  
Ganten ignored the comment, turning to Rin and jumping quickly at him without thinking. "Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible, that was Uzu..."  
  
Rin nodded, dodging away from the boy, he was picking up all sorts of unpleasant mental images from Ganten about what the howl implied. Apparently Uzu was the last person anyone wanted loosing himself to his 'animalistic' side.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Uzu held tight to the arm his fist was closed around. "That's a pretty clever trick you have there, a cloak that blends perfectly with the shadows... But it doesn't do a thing against someone like me."  
  
Keitai struggled as the grip on his arm tightened. "What are you talking about? My scent is perfectly hidden, my movements make no sound. Not even a wolf could find me... How did you know where I was?"  
  
Uzu smirked, pulling the man closer, nose to nose. "I have been to hell and back, I have lived in shadow. You war a shadow cloak and hide your body and think you can understand what darkness is?" As Uzu talked his eyes slowly started shifting from their normal green to deep blood red, Keitai struggled against the red head's grip.  
  
Uzu opened his mouth and Keitai noticed that his teeth now looked sharper, and... Was his mouth getting longer? Uzu lowered his mouth swiftly, tearing his teeth through the soft, if not slightly bony flesh of Keitai's shoulder. Tearing his way up the shoulder he finally released the man as he stood, watching the man drop to the floor in stunned shock. "Nothing to say? Well, you're gonna wish you'd never talked about my mother, bastard." Uzu took a small step forward, grinning crazily. "What, aren't you gonna run? You better do it now before I loose my control completely."  
  
"Wh-what?" Keitai asked, terror in his eyes. Never before had he felt such terror. The worst he'd seen Kentaar-sama do was nothing compared to the promised threats that lye in this boy's eyes.  
  
"Run..." Uzu whispered, red eyes now glowing. His tong sneaked out and licked up a trickle of Keitai's blood that was running down his chin.  
  
Keitai, at a complete loss for thought, did what he was instructed, fleeing into the seeming protection of the darkness. He ran without looking back, knowing that when he was caught Uzu's game, namely his own life, would be over.  
  
Uzu grinned as he watched the man run. Throwing back his head he howled long and loud, now he was ready to start hunting HIS style... It had been a long time.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Advanced Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kentaar's smile grew as ten clones appeared around his brother, each a little different, each a little more transformed than the next, and in the center stood Naruto, power seeping from his body, nine red lines of raw chakara whirling around his body like his nine pretty tails.  
  
"I'm impressed, but one does have to wonder... How much of that power can you control while you're in that form?" Kentaar asked, drawing up more of his power. "After all, you WERE stronger than I am, but now the tables have certainly turned. If you transform completely, however, I'm certain you could beat me."  
  
"This'll be more than enough for YOU." Naruto growled, stepping forward. The clones moved quickly around their enemy. A low growl escaped Naruto's lips and he glanced sideways to where Sakura lay and then towards the areas of the forest Sasuke and Uzu had disappeared to. The problem in Naruto's mind now was not if he COULD defeat Kentaar, but rather if he could do it without loosing too much control. The next step in his transformation would unleash enough raw power to kill Sakura, anything beyond that and he was looking at causing earthquakes that could cause major damage in Konoha, he didn't want to think about what it could do to his family fighting in the forest... Or to Sasuke.  
  
Naruto returned his eyes to Kentaar, noting with approval ten pairs of red eyes glowing at him from various spots around the other man. There was a chorus of growling and then- Naruto threw back his head and roared, rushing along with his duplicates towards his brother, he WOULD protect them all!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto: *slicing through the last of the Writer's block roots* DONE! *collapses to the ground with everyone else*  
  
Psychic King: *stepping through the now open portal* Hey guys! Miss me?  
  
Sakura: *panting* NO! You're so much trouble, geeze!  
  
Psychic King: *grinning* Well, thanks for helping me out, there...  
  
Sasuke: *glaring* We didn't do it for you, we did it for THEM! *points to Naruto's children*  
  
Psychic King: *ignoring everyone's agreeing comments* I KNEW you'd all find a way to get to me! And as a reward! I have a new chapter for you all!!!!!  
  
Sakura: *groans*  
  
Psychic King: *looks to the audience and bows* Sorry that it took so long to update! I really was having a hard time with writer's block... but it's passing! The fact that next week is spring break is REALLY helping that fact, I think... I'm truly sorry! I promise to have the next chapter out fast, really! I know this chapter may not be what some people were hoping for, but as I had to literally FORCE myself to sit down and ONLY think about writing, even though I had the block, I think it's as good as I could hope for it to be... Hey, at least I finished off one complete fight, and before anyone gets vicious in their reviews, no, Tenmar ain't dead yet! And I have two more fights almost completely fishined as well, plus I know where the others are headed, so all that's really left to do is write them! (Sounds simpler that it is, though, I assure you!!!!!!) I will put my best effort forward and get this chapter out ASAP!!!!!!! *hand on hips, standing tall* Or my name's not really 'Psychic King'!!!!  
  
Sakura: Ano... It's NOT really Psychic King...  
  
Psychic King: *ignoring her and laughing proudly* Next chapter's gonna rock!!!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah, and uh... sorry about the chapter title... It took all my creativity to push out the chapter, so the title has to be like this... Also, as a result of my writers block there are aspects of this chapter that I am not overly thrilled with, of course, there are aspects of this chapter that I think are totally awesome, so I'm posting it anyway... *waves to the readers* Bye everyone! Don't forget to read next chapter (and leave a review if you want!!! I'd appreciate it!). 


	20. Embrace of Spirits

Psychic King: *running and ducking quickly through Psychic King space as quietly as possible*  
  
Naruto: *walking up behind her, taps her on the shoulder and speaks loudly* Um... Whatcha doing?  
  
Psychic King: *grabs Naruto and holds a hand over his mouth* SHUSH! *looks around quickly then ducks down with Naruto* You'll blow my cover, man.  
  
Naruto: *ears perking up* 'Cover?' Are you hiding form something?  
  
Psychic King: *nods earnestly* Hai. It's terrible. You probably aren't familiar with what today is, as you're a Ninja an all, but... Have you ever heard of the Easter Bunny?  
  
Naruto: *confused* the WHAT?  
  
Psychic King: *slowly* EASTER. BUNNY. *shudders* It's terrible, terrible, terrible... *huddles back in the corner crying*  
  
Naruto: *looking worried* it must be, you don't even get THAT scared when Sakura's on the war path for you. And she's pretty scary.  
  
Sakura: *appearing next to Psychic King; glares at Naruto* I heard that. *looks to Psychic King* Psychic King-sama... There's a rabbit smoking a cigar that's been looking for you... Something about candy? *steps aside to reveal the CUTEST little rabbit you've ever seen*  
  
Naruto: *leaning down to pat it* Aww! It's SO adorable!!!!!  
  
Easter Bunny: *in a voice like an angry trucker* Yo, hands off the fur, bud. *pulls out a cigar* Miss. Psychic King?  
  
Psychic King: *nodding in mute terror*  
  
Easter Bunny: I'm from the Burrow of Bunnies. I think you know why I'm here. *hops cutely forward, putting the Cigar out*  
  
Psychic King: N-n-n-no! I swear, I didn't do it! It was her! *points at Sakura* I SAW her taking the candy! She's EVIL and hates children!!!!!!!!  
  
Sakura: *stepping back* What?? That's preposterous! I would NEVER steal ANYTHING!  
  
Easter Bunny: *cuffing Sakura* Yeah, we'll leave that up to the courts to decide, sweetie. *turns to Psychic King* Now all that's left is the issue of the last ten years in back dues.  
  
Psychic King: TEN YEARS??????? I thought my parents were paying my Easter dues...  
  
Easter Bunny: Only till you're a certain age, toots. You're well into your 20's and still celebrating, without any children to pawn it off on. *shakes head* it's sad when they aren't ready to grow up. I'm gonna have to take you in, too. Come on. *drags off Psychic King and Sakura*  
  
Psychic King: *being driven away in the Easter Bunny's prison truck* Ano... This may take a while, but please read this chapter... I just want you all to know a few things before you do. #1 it's not as long as I would have LIKED to make it, but it was the only decent stopping point I could find (I've already written part of next chapter so it should be out pretty quick, hopefully). #2, I've introduced three new characters for the SOLE purpose of letting you know what's going on in Konoha. They aren't important, nor are they going to become major, I just thought people MIGHT be curious what was going on (I named the central one after one of my friend, hence the name 'Shawn'). #3, I found out that my italics thing wasn't working on ff.net... Sigh... So I have changed my format for thoughts. ~Now they look like this.~ Sorry for any confusion!!! #4, if a cigar smoking rabbit asks where I was today, would you please vouch for me that I've been writing this whole time? Thanks!  
  
Sakura: *angrily* I CAN'T BELIEVE that you told him I stole the candy!!!!  
  
Psychic King: *defensively* WHAT??? I panicked!! And you SO would steal candy from a baby, so don't give me that holier than thou stuff!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 20  
  
Shawn stood atop the tall wall surrounding Konoha looking down in morbid fixation. "Are they still going at it?" His teammate and long time friend Yoh asked, lighting a cigarette as he glanced down.  
  
Shawn nodded mutely, watching the group of wolves pace methodically in front of the wall, occasionally one would break towards the wall, ramming his head in a brutal manner against it and then rejoin the others. 'Group' was too small a word for the massive numbers that stretched along the wall, as far around as his eye could follow. There was probably over a thousand, all pacing and glaring and howling in unison. Shawn ran a shaky hand through his long brown hair, pushing his bangs from his eyes. "I've never seen wolves act like that..."  
  
Yoh tossed his cigarette over the edge of the wall and pulled another out of his pocket, his spiky black hair gleaming in the moon light. He swore as the cigarette landed unlit near the wolves.  
  
"What the hell was that?" The third member of their group and only female, Saya demanded as she grabbed Yoh by the collar and lifted him over the edge. "You wanna go over after it?"  
  
Yoh's mouth opened in a silent scream as every wolf in the vicinity glanced up, growling. Shawn approached the woman cautiously, hands raised; Saya, standing over seven foot tall and as strong as an ox (almost as wide, too), was NOT the kind of woman you pissed off. "Ma, ma... I'm sure Yoh didn't mean anything by it and he won't be tossing any more cigarettes over the edge again, will you?"  
  
Yoh shook his head frantically, clutching at Saya's arm as she brought him back over the wall to safety. As soon as she deposited him safely on the wall again he jumped to his feet, balling his fists, "What the hell're you trying to do, Saya?"  
  
"What the hell're YOU trying to do, bastard?" Saya responded, balling her own hands into fists. "Our order was to observe until they either found a way to breach the wall or the attack signal was given. What were you thinking, throwing that cigarette at them?"  
  
Shawn dropped his head into his hands as they continued fighting. When Yoh called Saya a bitch he knew there were going to be problems. Why didn't they ever get along? They were going to get in trouble for sure; he was certain that every other guard unit on the wall were watching them right now...  
  
"What's going on here?" A sharp voice broke out.  
  
Shawn slowly raised his head from his hands as the sound of Yoh and Saya's fight halted suddenly. "I'm sorry, sir!" Shawn said quickly, bowing as he recognized the speaker to be one of their high superiors. "My teammates were just expelling a little pent up aggression."  
  
"Everyone's a little apprehensive right now, yet only your group is causing problems." The man said, condensation in his voice.  
  
"We're very sorry, sir." Shawn, Yoh and Saya said in unison, bowing.  
  
The man broke his stern looking face with a slight smile, patting Shawn on the back. "It's alright. We're all about ready to jump out of our skin right now; this is an unusual situation... Just keep a better eye on your teammates, got it?"  
  
Shawn bowed his head again, "Yes, sir." He sighed and glared at the others as the man walked away. Why was he always the one that got blamed for Yoh and Saya's stupidity..?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ganten sighed, breathing heavily. This fight was using up more of his energy than he'd like and his attempts at blind attacks without thinking were flawed at least. He couldn't help by analyze what his opponent's next move SHOULD be; as a result Rin was never where Ganten wanted him. On top of that, in trying to avoid analyzing the situation Ganten found himself OVER analyzing it instead. ~I can dodge in now with a jab to his-~ Even as the thought was formed Rin had the opening closed. "ARGH!"  
  
Rin smiled as he heard Ganten's frustrated growl. It was true that the white haired boy was having problems fighting him, but he was having a hard time of it as well. The problem was how much Ganten thought. He'd never faced an opponent that had so many statistics, numbers, scenarios and possibilities running through his head at once. It was throwing off his rhythm as well. That's why Ganten occasionally got lucky and managed to score a blow, not as often as he was but often enough. The only real advantage Rin had in this fight was Ganten, despite his negative thoughts about Sasuke, seemed to be sticking to the dark haired boy's wishes not to try to kill him. If he hadn't there were quite a few times that Rin would have been in a lot of trouble. He dodged another close blow. It was time to make things a little more interesting. "Your brother, Uzu, he's a pretty interesting fellow, isn't he?"  
  
Ganten showed no outward signs of acknowledgement, but he knew Rin couldn't be fooled, as thoughts of Uzu mulled through his mind. ~IGNORE.~ Ganten thought viciously to himself. ~He's TRYING to confuse you. Talking about Uzu throws his rhythm off slightly, his right side is now 15% less secure-~ Ganten grinned as Rin reacted quickly to his thoughts, moving into a more defensive position. ~Damn, you're fast.~  
  
Rin nodded, smiling himself. "I try to be."  
  
~If we weren't enemies I'd kill to have you for a companion. I'd never have to talk again. Your reaction time alone is enough to make me respect you, though.~ Ganten thought, adding, ~Sparing with you would be useful, too. Opening to the side.~  
  
"God, how do you think like that?" Rin replied, moving swiftly to the right as Ganten's fist thrust strait towards his shoulder. Reading the question in Ganten's mind he continued with his thought. "Everything's separated into usefulness and number values. You'd probably make a great merchan-" His words were cut off as Ganten's leg whipped from nowhere and caught him square in the back.  
  
Ganten paused his attack as Rin's body slammed into the ground. "That's not true." ~If that were really the case, than I'd have killed Uzu a long time ago...~ Ganten thought, nostalgic smile forming on his lips as thoughts of his childhood streamed though his head. ~That's not true though, Uzu's a great man; the only one that's really useless is Mina. But she's the most powerful, she'll grow to understand her position in time... Now that we have Daddy maybe she won't need to. But I'd never kill Mina...~ A dark, doubting thought rose in his mind, ~Even if she's a spy? NO, she hates Kentaar as much as the rest of us do, she's my SIST-~ His thoughts cut off as he barely managed to dodge a throwing star from Rin's position on the ground. ~He's trying to side track me again, bastard. Openings on his head, right foot and left shoulder. 50% chance of success to the head.~  
  
Rin leaned his head back as Ganten's fist swiped by it. "You're getting better at not thinking too far ahead with those attacks." Rin said quietly. Ganten's mind had taken a darker turn, brought about by Kentaar's name. The thoughts and memories were... Rin shuddered, wishing he could turn off his abilities for a little while. The man he worked for, if Ganten's memories were to be believed, was a monster... "Kentaar..." Rin shook as a wave of hatred at the name emanated from Ganten's mind. "He really hurt you."  
  
"What kind of question is that, bastard?" Ganten said, voice getting gruff, eyes flashing slightly. ~You want to know? You want to see what he was like? How he used to enter my dreams and-~ Images flashed through Ganten's mind; like a morbid play of memories, each fueling his hatred more. ~Are you watching, you sick freak? Is this what you wanted to know? Uzu and Mina, too... He's still haunting Mina-chan; she's still tormented by...~ That last thought was enough to drive Ganten over the edge, the hold he had kept over his emotions thus far into the fight was gone.  
  
Rin took a step back as Ganten began to growl slightly. The Ganten he was reading now was like a completely different person, if he hadn't been in his mind during the transformation he wouldn't have ever thought this could be the same person. The person before him was wild, angry, filled with rage and hatred and it was all being directed his way. For the first time in his whole life Rin felt sorry for a human being other than himself.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke leaned quietly against a tree as he glanced at Ganten and Rin's fight. He was starting to wonder if Rin's supposed teammate was even going to show up. Maybe the other boy had made whoever it was up in order to avoid fighting Sasuke. He certainty seemed to have the upper hand against Ganten, but then again, Ganten was a very calculated person. He watched the white hared boy charge against the empath, landing a light blow to Rin's stomach, but it wasn't going to be anywhere near enough. What the hell was Ganten thinking pulling that last punch? That might have been his only chance.  
  
Rin managed to hit Ganten's face pretty hard after that, but it still wasn't enough to knock the white haired boy down. Sasuke sighed; Rin pulled that punch, too. There might have been a reason, but it was obvious that these two were not interested in really killing each other. He shook his head, directing his attention back to the West, finally it seemed that Rin's little partner was approaching and they were just about here.  
  
"Ano..." A small voice called from Sasuke's left. "Who are you, mister?"  
  
Sasuke shifted his position to a battle ready stance and looked over to the person he would be fighting. A little girl, not more than six or seven if he had to guess, wearing what looked like a potato sack with holes cut into it for the head and arms to pop out, long soft looking brown hair trailing down her back, so long she could almost trip on it, large brown eyes looking questioningly up at Sasuke and long dog-like ears poking up in a curious fashion. The only thing Sasuke could think to describe her as was adorable.  
  
The small dog like girl toddled over to him, tugging on the bottom of his shirt. "Who are you, mister?" She replied.  
  
Sasuke looked down at her, then his shirt. Her hand had left some sort of stain, chocolate perhaps? That was when he noticed the smell surrounding the girl. Blood. Why hadn't he noticed it before? "What ARE you?" He demanded, jumping away from her.  
  
The girl's face show the kind of indignation that only a child can have and she stamped her foot. "I asked you first!" Following the spot that Sasuke's eyes kept darting to she realized what the strange man's problem was. "Oh, I'm sorry! I got Niichan's blood on your shirt!" Her voice dropped to a scandalous whisper, "Kentaar-sama was angry at Niichan." For a moment she hung her head, drooping her dog-style ears, and Sasuke was left to wonder what terrible things this small child had been subjected to at the hands of Naruto's insane brother. Then her head was raised and a bright smile lit across her face. "My name's Inuko!"  
  
Cautiously Sasuke regarded the girl, then turned and headed back towards the clearing Naruto should be fighting at, as sorry as he felt for the little girl, he didn't have time to worry about children right now; Naruto might need him. "Scram, kid, it's not safe here."  
  
Effortlessly Sasuke jumped to a tall tree branch, sparing one last glance at Ganten and Rin as he left, but as before, they were too involved with their fight to pay attention to his departure. Turning his attention to the clearing Sasuke dashed as quickly as he could towards it, hoping as he did so that he was not too late to help Naruto. A blur in front of him caused Sasuke reason to pause, before him stood the little dog girl. "Where're you going? I want to play with you! Come on! Let's play, mister!"  
  
Inuko grinned as the dark haired man narrowed his eyes. Being a seven year old was not without its advantages; looking like an adorably innocent child helped as well. This man wouldn't go all out against her; there was no way. He was drawn into her look just like all the others. He wouldn't guess that behind the innocent smile and pleading eyes was the calm and calculating mind of a well seasoned fighter. He wouldn't be able to tell until it was far too late exactly how much faster her mind matured than her body.  
  
She was really annoyed right now; cleaning the remains of Garou, her adopted brother, from Kentaar-sama's cave had left a bitter taste in her mouth. Toying with this boy a bit before killing him would serve to satisfy some of that anger.  
  
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, he wasn't sure who this freaky kid was, but she was standing between himself and Naruto. Regardless of her age or appearance, he wasn't about to forgive something like that. Dashing forward Sasuke raised his hand to attack.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tenmar sat cradling Tenmar's head in his lap, tears still flowing down his face. He couldn't be dead. This couldn't be real. "Tenmar..." He whispered, wiping away some of the blood that was drying on his face.  
  
Iruka's eyes widened slightly as Tenmar's hand seemed to twitch slightly in response to Iruka's touch. Disbelievingly, Iruka ran his hands over the man's neck, searching for some sign of a pulse. He SOULDN'T be alive. Iruka was pretty sure that no human, not even Naruto, could survive the kind of beating Tenmar just took, and yet...  
  
Working fast, hope coursing through Iruka's body, he quickly worked at unbuttoning Tenmar's shirt. It was almost unbelievable, but there WAS a pulse. As Iruka tore Tenmar's shirt off he noticed that the wounds didn't seem to be as deep as he'd thought they'd be; or rather, they were actually healing themselves at a rate fast enough that Iruka could actually SEE it happening.  
  
Of course, that didn't mean he was out of danger yet. Some of the wounds, particularly those of his chest, were deep puncture wounds. They wouldn't heal right if left to themselves. In this situation, the best thing Iruka could do at this point would be to widen the wounds himself, and then allow Tenmar's amazing healing abilities to work their magic on his body. It was the idea of widening the wounds that was making Iruka nervous. Tenmar'd just lost a lot of blood, even if he COULD heal himself, could his body handle any more damage?  
  
Only one way to find out. Closing his eyes and saying a prayer to any god he could think of, Iruka grabbed a kunai, holding it shakily over Tenmar's puncture wounds until he was able to steady himself, Iruka quickly went to work making deep incisions into the holes, evening them out. Then he quickly pulled out a needle and string, thankful for all the oddities he'd grown accustomed to carrying around as a teacher, and carefully sowed up the incisions.  
  
He leaned back afterwards, admiring his work. It was terrible, in fact it looked like an amateur surgeon who'd been drugged and half blind had done it, but considering the circumstances, it was the best he could have done. All that was left was to wait and hope. In the meantime... Iruka turned tentative eyes towards the brave fox that had fought along side Tenmar to save him. His injuries were less serious and should be fine without any immediate care, but Iruka wasn't sure he could sit still anyway, he could feel the effects of the drug wearing off.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kentaar laughed as he finally managed to knock the last of Naruto's 'advanced' clones to the ground. His body was not undamaged from the fight, in fact Naruto and his varying levels of transformed clones were quite astounding, if he wasn't careful he could very well bleed to death. Kentaar's smile widened, THIS was what fighting was about, the adrenaline coursing through his body, the pain sharpening his senses, fear and instincts struggling for dominance through out his body... THIS is what it felt like to be alive. "I've waited so long!" Kentaar said, voice taking on an almost fanatical tone. "Come on! Show me what you're going to do next, brother!"  
  
Naruto gritted his teeth, breathing heavily. Well, Kentaar definitely had the power Naruto remembered; in fact he seemed a little stronger, but it wasn't enough. Next move and Naruto would have him; these last twelve years would be avenged. The clones had really just been to buy time so that he could perfect his next move and now... it was ready. Breathing in deeply Naruto closed his eyes, quickly performing hand seals more to clear his mind and concentrate than anything else. He was surprised how calm he felt right now; no hatred or pain was fogging his mind. If this worked things were bound to change, if not... Things were definitely going to change, there was no longer any way around that.  
  
Kentaar watched his brother's serious face, eyes closed. What the hell was he doing in the middle of a fight? "You must really not want to kill me, brother." Kentaar mocked, pacing patiently around Naruto. "You keep pausing long enough for my powers to heal my body. Or is it your body that's in need of healing?" He moved a little closer, almost touching the blonde, but Naruto's eyes snapped open, causing the man to jump back.  
  
"Not want to kill you?" Naruto repeated back, voice incredulous. "NOT want to kill you, you bastard? You took from me not only the woman I loved, but the very existence I loved, depriving me of my children's childhoods and now... NOW you're doing it again, now that things are good again, now that I'm reunited with my family. There is no one in this entire world that I would love to eradicate more than you."  
  
Kentaar grinned; Naruto's entire attitude was changed from his clone attack moments before... Everything was going according to Kentaar's schedule. "Ah, back to reality I see." Kentaar said dismissing Naruto's every word. "You say that now, but soon you won't even remember that pain filled existence any longer. Wouldn't that be magnificent? To forget all about that woman that pulled us apart, to forget these last twelve years of pain and loss? To forget all these people that have caused you nothing but pain."  
  
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but let's end this- "  
  
"NOW!" Kentaar commanded, maniac grin spread across his features.  
  
Naruto's head turned slowly towards the direction of Sakura, eyes wide as Sai's chanting took on another level. Sakura's body rose steadily off its place on the ground, there was a bright light shining from outside her body. The light grew in intensity, enveloping Sakura's entire body and then... Slowly Sakura's body lowered, setting her gently on her feet, her eyes blinked open, focusing on Naruto. "Saku..." Naruto's breath caught as the girl moved gracefully forward.  
  
"My love..." Sakura's voice whispered softly, in a tone of gentle caring. "It's been so long." Sakura's slender hand reached out and stroked Naruto's cheek as tears started to pour down his face.  
  
"Illia." Naruto replied, body shaking. His arms reached around the girl, pulling her into a tearful embrace. With the body of one of his dearest friends and the soul of his beloved wife wrapped firmly in his arms Naruto threw back his head and screamed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *wiping at brow* Phew! They dropped the charges!  
  
Sakura: Yeah, who'd have thought that such cute creatures could be so blood thirsty, though...  
  
Psychic King: *shrugging* Eh, you just gotta know how to deal with em.  
  
Sakura: *rolling eyes* Telling them that you'd send your cat after them is NOT dealing with them. You're on their bad list now.  
  
Psychic King: *nodding* yeah, for my own protection I'd better actually get a cat now... *looks to readers* So... What the chapter OK? I've been watching Hikaru no Go recently and I'm afraid it's seeping into my style... Also, I know it wasn't as LONG as you were hoping (or at least I was hoping), but originally I'd planned on waiting to flash back to Tenmar and Iruka and let you know Tenmar was alive until the NEXT chapter, but I threw them in now because people were unhappy! See, I listen!!  
  
Sakura: Of course you DID do something you said you wouldn't...  
  
Psychic King: *feigning innocence* What do you mean by that?  
  
Sakura: *rolling eyes* Illia, duh. You said you wouldn't ever have her IN the story.  
  
Psychic King: *holding up a defensive hand* Hey, not quite! I said I would never have her NEXT to Sasuke in the story. And I DIDN'T. Anyway, she's in YOUR body, do you really think she'd WANT to stick around?  
  
Sakura: *getting angry* and what is THAT supposed to mean?  
  
Psychic King: Hey! Don't get snippy with ME, young lady. I could always call Sai in here to kick your soul to the curb. *looks to readers* Anyway, it's only temporary, promise. I would like to apologize at this time for the Tenmar wound cutting open thing. I got a puncture wound once and that's what they had to do so it would heal, I don't know if that is normal practice or not, however... My Doctor could just be a quack.... Anyway, questions, comments, whatever? Please review or e-mail me at Psychic_King@hotmail.com  
  
Naruto: *walking by with a HUGE basket of chocolate* Hey that rabbit that dropped you guys off just gave me all this great stuff!!!  
  
Psychic King: Wait, he gave YOU all that candy and he didn't give any to us?  
  
Naruto: *shaking head* he said something about keeping an eye on you two, and that he'd be in contact, though.  
  
Psychic King: *eyes wide, runs away and hides* He's not catching ME this time! 


	21. Embrace of Illia

Psychic King: *hunched over the computer* And done! *preses the last key with a flourish* Whew... Chapter 21 is now out! Heh heh heh.  
  
Sakura: *looking over disdainfully* Oh really? And do I get my body back?  
  
Psychic King: *looks around innocently* Um...  
  
Sakura: *angry* You meant you wrote the whole chapter and DIDN'T give me my body back?  
  
Psychic King: *holding up hands* I did NOT say that! *muttering* I didn't say that I DID either, but...  
  
Sakura: *suspiciously* what was that?  
  
Psychic King: Nothing! *walks over to Naruto and Sasuke, Sasuke glares at her* What??  
  
Naruto: Heh... He's a little pissed that you've got Illia running around, even if it IS in Sakura's body.  
  
Sasuke: *darkly* A little? A LITTLE?????? *glares as Illia's ghost flies into the room, perching on Naruto's shoulder*  
  
Illia ghost: *sticks tong out at Sasuke*  
  
Sasuke: I think it's time to try a little at home exorcism...  
  
Naruto: *glaring at Psychic King* This is YOUR fault, FIX it, ya old ugly hag!  
  
Psychic King: *clinging to Naruto* Naruto-kun, please don't be so mean to me! I really only have your BEST interests at heart...  
  
Sakura: *snorts* Yeah, right.  
  
Psychic King: I'LL FIX IT!! Gomennasai, gomennasai! *starts crying*  
  
Uzu: *walks by whistling; Tenmar in with him* AH! Look, Tenmar, its daddy and mum together! Aren't they SO CUTE together? *waves enthusiastically at Naruto and Illia's ghost (still on Naruto's shoulder)*  
  
Sasuke: *glares at Uzu* Naruto is MINE! *punches at Illia, but it goes right through her*  
  
Illia ghost: *sticks out tong at Sasuke and glomps onto Naruto's head*  
  
Naruto: *starts screaming* My EYES!  
  
Psychic King: *still crying* I'm SORRY!!!!  
  
Sakura: *raising eyebrow* So you'll re-write it?  
  
Psychic King: *sobering* Not a chance, girly. It took me a LONG time to write that and I had to forgo a chance to hang out with friends in order to finish. The story stays the way it is. *looks to readers* Any how... Well, I think I did OK, lets see... Um, standard disclaimers apply, I don't own Naruto or any of the REAL characters but Tenmar and his sibs are MINE, MINE!!!!!! Haha! *calming down* I mean, I created them... *blush* Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 21  
  
Gin and Kasai's fight was forgotten as Sakura's body was enveloped in light. When the light receded they saw the girl walk slowly towards Naruto, talking softly. They watched in silence as the two embraced. Kasai growled slightly as tears started flowing down the blonde's face. "You better not have been lying, boy. If this doesn't work out..." He allowed the threat to hang in the air, turning his foxy red eyes to Gin.  
  
Gin smiled innocently at the fox, grimacing as Naruto's sorrowful cry echoed across the forest. "This is the only way." He said reassuringly, inching away from the large creature as it began growling once more. "I promise you," Gin said seriously, "This may be painful for his, but this is the BEST way to guarantee his safety. And give peace to Lady Illia's tortured soul."  
  
A soft gasp from behind the tragic scene of Naruto collapsed in Sakura- no Illia's arms dragged Gin's eyes towards his master. Her face was covered in a sad smile and her breathing seemed erratic. He watched in confused terror as she grasped at her chest, breathing heavily and fell completely to the ground. "Sai-sama!"  
  
Sai looked up as she felt Gin's arms lifting her from the ground, carrying her gently out of the bone circle. "Gin, I did it, I fulfilled that woman's last wish."  
  
Gin smiled as he set his master down gently against a tree far out of the way of immediate danger, he hoped. "Hey, you're not done yet." He reminded softly as he mixed herbs together and set up a pot over a small fire. It would return a little of her strength, it'd have to do for now. "You still gotta put everything back the way it was, right?"  
  
Sai smiled faintly as she tried to push herself away from the tree, struggling to get up. "Hai..."  
  
Gin pushed her back down. "Not yet, they're not ready yet, so just rest."  
  
"Thank you, Gin..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke's head snapped up as Naruto's screams reached his ears, his heart threatening to leap out of his chest. Forgetting his fight he jumped past the little girl, rushing forward towards the clearing that the sound had come from. With a blur the little girl was in front of him again. She'd dropped the cute child act long ago, but Sasuke was still having a difficult time fighting against her. Her small size and lighter frame served to make her hard to hit and quick. "If you really think I'd let you go to him you're an even bigger idiot that you appear to be."  
  
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the girl; if LOOKS could kill she'd have been dead a buried by this point... Thinking frantically Sasuke decided his best course of action would be to just ignore the child. She might be quick and hard to hit, but could she really do enough damage to kill him before he reached Naruto? There was only one way to find out.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Uzu raised his head as his father's cries reached him, snapping him back to reality. He looked down at himself as his consciousness exerted control over his body, snatching it from his instincts. The last thing he remembered was biting into that dark cloaked guy. Looking down he noticed the man's body lying beneath him, his hands still clasped around various organs. There were various holes and rips across the man's flesh; luckily it seemed that most of them were from his claws rather than his teeth and fangs. The thought that he could have eaten part of the man was clear in his head.  
  
Shaking, he quickly pulled himself away from the scene. He would have liked to clean himself up before letting his father see him again, but after hearing those screams Uzu didn't think he should take that kind of time. It sounded like Daddy needed his help NOW. He was willing to risk loosing his father's affections, but he wouldn't let that bastard Kentaar kill him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ganten and Rin's fight barely paused as Naruto's cries reached their ears. In fact, Rin was so focused that he barely noticed the sound. That is until Ganten's mind started calculating the benefits of fleeing the fight to help his father. Rin's mind spun as he read numerous figures, facts, statistics and calculations from Ganten's thoughts. In the end Ganten seemed to have decided that the chances of him escaping Rin in good enough condition to be of any help were slim to none. Rin mentally sagged with relief that Ganten could not read HIS mind right now. He probably would have let the boy leave which would have meant at best some sever behavioral discipline from Kentaar, but considering the situation...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Iruka had just finished bandaging Aidan's wounds when Naruto's screams reached him. He quickly turned his attention to Tenmar. His body was definitely healing, almost father than Iruka wanted it to, and for the last half hour perhaps he'd been running a ridiculously high fever. He also seemed to respond to his surroundings a bit more by this point. As Iruka feared, Tenmar's eyes shot open moments after Naruto's screams subsided. "Na-Naruto-sama..."  
  
Iruka quickly moved next to him, hoping that he would forgive him for a small white lie. "Naruto? What are you taking about? He's not here. You've been seriously injured and now you're running a high fever, you must be hallucinating."  
  
"No... I just heard him. Something's wrong." Tenmar struggled weakly to rise, but wasn't able to even sit up before falling back down.  
  
"Even IF Naruto did just scream, what could you do for him right now? You're half dead, if you even get up to walk around that status could change to fully dead. But you must have heard wrong, because Naruto didn't scream just now." Iruka said sternly, hoping that Tenmar would see the validity of his statement even in this fevered state.  
  
"You're a terrible liar, Iruka-san." Tenmar said softly, but this time he remained in his laying position. "It must be part of what I find so charming about you."  
  
Iruka blushed, "As a Ninja and someone who's supposed to be a master of deception, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to take that as a compliment."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
In Konoha the situation remained unchanged. Shawn sighed as he looked over the edge of the wall, wondering what the wolves were thinking. "There's gotta be something..." He muttered, running a nervous hand through his hair. He stopped himself. Running his hand through his hair was an anxious gesture, he was a ninja, he shouldn't have such weaknesses.  
  
Behind him the sound of Yoh and Saya holding a quiet conversation was the only sound he could hear. It was amazing, they had actually managed NOT to argue since they'd been yelled at by-  
  
"That's it, bitch!" Yoh hollered suddenly, jumping to his feet. "Who the hell asked you, anyway?"  
  
"You did, idiot!" Saya shouted back, jumping to her feet as well. "You want to MAKE something of it, you moron?"  
  
Shawn's shoulders sagged, and he found himself running his hand once again though his hair. "Guys, stop it! I'm gonna kick your sorry asses if you get us in trouble again!"  
  
That caused both Saya and Yoh to fall silent, more in surprise than anything else. Normally Shawn was such a laid back kind of guy, he'd never threatened them before. Bribed them, yes, but... "Sorry." Yoh muttered, walking a few paces away from his comrades and preparing to light a cigarette.  
  
That was when they heard it, an eerie, mournful sound from somewhere in the forest. Three heads swiveled in the direction the sound came from, Yoh's cigarette hit the ground unlit and forgotten as he and his team mates leaned eyes wide.  
  
"What the hell was THAT?" Saya whispered.  
  
Shawn shook his head, looking around. Every ninja in sight was leaning out slightly over the wall, towards the source of that sound, every head was turned. Looking down he could also see the wolves halt in their pacing, heads turned and ears perked up. "It kind of sounded like..." Shawn ran his hand through his hair again; somehow that sound made him think of that rambunctious fox-brat that was always causing problems... There'd been rumors going around about him recently, too.  
  
"Sounded like that Uzumaki kid, don't ya think?" Yoh asked, retrieving his cigarette from the ground and lighting it. "Damn, if he's out there..." he shook his head, "I hope he's OK."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sasuke grunted as he barley managed to dodge something aimed at wrapping around his feet. Simply running and ignoring the girl was proving to be a lot harder than it looked. Also, despite her small stature and adorable presence, he was finding her to be a merciless fighter. She'd already hit him multiple times as he raced towards Naruto, despite his best efforts at dodging.  
  
Dodging was a necessity; he'd realized that from the first hit the girl managed to connect on him. She had a strange weapon, too; long chains with sharp rocks and metal pieces sticking out of the end. He was pretty sure she must have made them herself, or maybe the brother she'd been talking about, but it definitely had the 'homemade' look to it. To Sasuke right now that meant two things. Number one, although harder to wield than a professional made weapon, it most likely was going to be a lot more dangerous; number two with the skill the girl was swinging the weapon around she'd spent a LOT of time mastering it, so much that Sasuke wasn't sure she could wield a professional weapon of similar style. She'd found her niche with this one. Of course she was still young.  
  
Once again Sasuke found himself grunting as the girl's weapon tore into his back. He wasn't going to be able to avoid fighting the girl, he realized. With a sigh he began forming hand Jutsu for his fire attack. He was almost close enough to smell Naruto, and here he was forced to fight this girl. In one fluid motion he turned his attention towards the girl and breathed a huge fireball at her.  
  
As he expected the girl managed to avoid most of the damage, however she WAS taken by surprise and slightly singed. He grinned darkly. "Alright, if you're going to be SO persistent, I guess I'll fight you." The girl immediately jumped into a ready stance, opening her mouth to say something, but Sasuke didn't give her the chance.  
  
Dashing towards the girl ~the OPPOSITE direction of Naruto, this better get over quickly~ Sasuke sent a flurry of punches and kicks at the little girl. Not letting up when he connected with her face and she went flying into a tree. Not stopping when she whimpered pathetically.  
  
Finally Inuko managed to escape from the barrage of his attacks, panting and in significant pain, but she was alive. She glared at the man. No one had EVER managed to attack her so viciously in the past. That included the man that watched her tear the throats out of his wife and son; people just didn't have the heart to attack her before. Maybe she was getting too old; maybe she was loosing her cuteness... No, it wasn't possible. "You ARE a mean old bastard, aren't ya?" She tilted her head, putting on her perfect pouting face.  
  
The look did not have the effect she would have wanted, Sasuke had beaten her badly enough by now that she was barely recognizable as the cute child from before. Sasuke glared at her. "I don't have time to play, I've gotta help Naruto. The choice is really yours; step aside or die. You seem to have already chosen. It's a pity that you have to die so young, but if you want to play with the big kids you gotta know you're gonna get hurt, little girl."  
  
"I face death on either side." Inuko said sternly, moving once again to stand between Sasuke and the clearing that Naruto was at. "If I let you go my master will hunt me down and kill me; if I don't you'll kill me." Raising her chains above her head she started twirling them. "I can tell you right now, I would rather be beaten to death by your hand than tortured to death by Kentaar-sama." Even as she aimed her chains carefully at Sasuke Inuko knew that she was dead. She'd known ever since Sasuke blindly ran past her that he'd fight beyond his capabilities if necessary to save his beloved. If she had let him go she would only have been prolonging the inevitable. "It's better to die in your service than to live outside of it." She whispered as Sasuke's hand grasped her chains, catching them and pulling her off her position on the tree she'd been standing on.  
  
Sasuke's mind paused for a split second as the girl's body went plummeting towards the darkness of the forest floor. Then he shook his head, wrenching upwards on the chain. She was giving up; at this point? He didn't think so. Inuko's body came flying up, a quick glance told Sasuke that she was passed out. Acting quickly Sasuke used the girl's own chains to tie Inuko to the tree, he didn't think it would hold her long, but hopefully she'd be passed out until after they'd finished with Kentaar. A normal person would be passed out for a least a day or two considering the beating she'd gotten, and then there was her size to take into consideration...  
  
Sasuke sighed as he left her there, wondering as he did so if it was a mistake. He was in too much of an eager hurry to reach Naruto to bother turning around and killing her now. Besides, as he was saving the girl he was certain that it was what Naruto would have wanted; even if the girl was a subordinate of his evil brother and even if Sasuke himself was in grievous danger Sasuke was certain it was the course that Naruto would have taken. He smiled slightly and shook his head. "If you're dead, dobe, than it's ALL your fault." The mental image of a dead Naruto sobered him and he quickened his pace.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Naruto sniffed as he looked at Sakura's face. "Is it really you?" He whispered, looking away with a sigh. They looked similar, Sakura and Illia, probably even more similar than Mina resembled her mother, but there were definite differences, and looking up at Sakura's face Naruto was having problems coping with the fact that this apparently WAS Illia.  
  
Sakura's face broke into a loving smile and Naruto felt his head spinning. That was her smile, no question about it. "Yes, it's me."  
  
Suppressing the feelings that were flowing through his body he forced himself to focus on the main question in his mind. "What happened to Sakura?"  
  
"She was kind enough to let me borrow this body. I assure you, she'll be fine." Illia smiled. Part of her was very relieved that her husband was worried over the still living Sakura more than his long dead wife. OF course part of her felt a small pain of jealousy that soon Sakura would return to her body and she would finally pass onto the next life. In some ways she really would have liked to grow up with her beloved.  
  
Forgetting completely the monster that was his brother Naruto allowed himself to enjoy briefly the comforting embrace of his long dead wife. The smell was wrong, the feel was wrong, the look was wrong, but somehow part of it simply felt perfectly right. "I'm so sorry." He whispered as he held her close to him. "I couldn't protect you, I failed you. And our children... I feel right into Kentaar's trap, I am a failure as a husband and father. Even now..." Naruto closed his eyes and clung to Sakura's body, but he shed no tears. Some pain was too great, he realized.  
  
"YOU'RE sorry?" Illia repeated, holding Naruto just as tightly. "It was all my fault. I haven't been able to rest these past twelve years because my heart is filled with guilt for the curse I brought upon our family." Naruto opened his mouth to argue but she placed a slender hand over it. "Please, I've waited twelve years to tell you this tale, before any more interruptions occur or our time runs out, please allow me to finish this tale and please know that I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't want any of this to happen. But I have to tell you, it's why Kentaar wanted me to return to a body, so that you would hear... It's why I wanted to return to a body."  
  
Illia paused, sucking in a deep breath and Naruto could see her shaking. Naruto shook his head, feeling Kentaar's presence looming behind him like a dark symbol of everything he hated in this world. He shook his head, turning away from Illia. "I'll listen to your story after I destroy him." Naruto replied, moving away.  
  
Illia grabbed his arms, trying to pull him back to her. "Please! Listen to me, there isn't a lot of time-"  
  
Naruto cut her off, placing a hand over her lips and tilting Sakura's head up so that he could look deeply into her eyes. It was Sakura's body, but where it really mattered he could see Illia in her eyes. "I love you." He whispered softly, "There is NOTHING you could ever do or say that will change that; even if I fall in love again, you will always be part of my heart." Four things happened near simultaneously as Naruto's words trailed off. The first was a process that began as he started speaking; his body shifted, growing longer, hair getting slightly spikier and a little darker, voice dropping, sort slight roundness fading away into the sharp hard edges of an extremely well toned adult.  
  
The second was Kentaar, who had been pacing madly as Naruto and Illia talked, suddenly snarled as he realized that his whole purpose for calling Illia was being destroyed, jumping into the air, claw like hands poised to strike at Naruto.  
  
The third happened only a moment after Kentaar sprang. A silver and black streak suddenly darted from an unknown place in the forest and managed to grab Kentaar around the neck as he made his dash, stopping him inches from Naruto's head.  
  
The fourth and fifth occurred from opposite sides of the clearing, as both Uzu and Sasuke came dashing in alert and ready for a fight.  
  
Naruto, now fully an adult, turned to stare at the others in surprise. "What you're just now getting here?"  
  
Both of Kakashi's eyes curved visibly in a smile, "Sorry, I got lost on my way here, so..."  
  
"Liar!" Naruto snapped, but in his adult form, with his adult voice, it didn't sound like the normal whining sound Naruto made when he was annoyed with his sensei. Seeing as how Kakashi had a good enough hold on Kentaar to last for a moment longer Naruto quickly turned towards Uzu, "Uzu, take Kasai and track down Tenmar, Iruka and Aidan then take them to Konoha and help in the city's defense."  
  
Uzu, lost for words and confused found himself nodding. It wasn't until he and Aidan were a good distance away that he began to wonder what the hell was going on.  
  
Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke. "Sasuke, take Illi-Sakura, and go over there." He pointed towards the area that Gin had moved Sai. "Together with that guy over there I want you to protect Sakura's body and Sai-san."  
  
Sasuke was not as disoriented as Uzu and was NOT happy about rushing in to save Naruto only to find him in adult form cuddling with Sakura. On top of that, wasn't this Sai person working with Kentaar? "Aren't they with HIM?"  
  
Naruto shook his head, moving his attention back to Kentaar and Kakashi. Kentaar had broken free from the other man's hold and was now sizing up his opponent. "I don't have time to explain right now, please Sasuke?"  
  
Sasuke sighed as Naruto's penetrating blue eyes bore into him. Glaring at Sakura he grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Naruto and towards the area Gin sat with Sai. "Just what's going on?" He hissed at the girl as he half led half pulled her along.  
  
Illia stared at the dark haired boy. "You must be Sasuke." She whispered. When she had been shifting places with Sakura there was a brief moment that the two had simultaneously inhabited Sakura's body. In that moment all of the pink haired girl's memories, everything she held as important flowed into Illia's being. This boy, this Sasuke was someone that meant so much to the girl. And just recently she'd seen... The mental image of Sasuke laying on top of Naruto, the two boys kissing passionately, filtered though Illia's mind.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke growled, releasing Sakura as he reached the area that Sai was being treated by Gin.  
  
Gin looked up from his position next to his master as the two appeared. "That's not your friend. Right now her spirit has been removed from that shell. The person in that body was your blonde friend's wife."  
  
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked from the two strangers to Sakura. "Is this some kind of joke?" Looking at their serious faces, Sasuke stormed towards Sai. Gin jumped to his feet, moving protectively between the dark haired boy and his master. "Put her back!" Sasuke demanded, looking from Gin to Sai. "What the hell're you doing relaxing like that? Sakura's my team mate, not a resting place for some bitch that died twelve years ago!"  
  
Gin's eyes narrowed and he moved an angry step closer to Sasuke. "Sai-sama is NOT feeling well right now, she'll put your little friend back when she's good and ready."  
  
Illia stepped between the two men, "And how long will that take?"  
  
Gin sighed, "I don't know. I've never seen her collapse like this. It usually takes her at least an hour after a ritual like that, though."  
  
"I'll be ready in half and hour." Sai spoke from behind Gin, pushing herself unsteadily onto her knees. "Any longer than that and your friend's spirit won't fit into her body any longer. The body will also start rejecting you, Illia. If it goes more than five minutes without a soul it will cease to function." With great effort, relying heavily on her shaman stick, Sai pushed her body to her feet. "I'll prepare the ceremony here right now."  
  
Gin moved quickly to his master's side, catching her as she fell began to fall. "Please, just tell me what to do, Sai-sama." He whispered softly as he once again gathered her into his arms and placed her against a tree. Sai nodded and the two began.  
  
Illia turned to Sasuke. "Half an hour will be long enough for me. Will you please talk with me until the ceremony is prepared?"  
  
Sasuke nodded slowly. He'd rather be fighting along side Naruto, but there was something about this situation, about the urgency in her eyes maybe, or the graceful way she walked perhaps, that made him feel the need to listen. "Fine."  
  
Illia settled down on the ground, pulling Sasuke down with her. "It all began 15 years ago; the day Mina was conceived..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Psychic King: *looking eagerly at readers* SO... What'd you think? What'd you think???? I was actually rather pleased with this chapter, so I'm curious. (of course, I'm ALWAYS curious, but...).  
  
Sakura: *sniffing disdainfully* It sucked. Rewrite it.  
  
Psychic King: *Glaring* I said NO! If my readers REALLY hated it I would consider doing revisions, but I think it turned out good! Especially the lack of Sakura.... And I've got GREAT news! (Well for me anyway) I think next chapter or perhaps the chapter afterwards will wrap up the battle scenes! (I'm really aiming for next chapter, I have trouble writing the scenes and as a result it takes me a LOT longer to pop out a chapter...).  
  
Naruto: *walking with Sasuke on one side, Illia Ghost on the other* Yeah? Well you better fix THIS situation, too.  
  
Psychic King: *sing song* Next Chapter!  
  
Sakura: And get her out of my body! *points at Illia*  
  
Psychic King: *sing song* Next Chapter!  
  
Sakura: and put me back IN!  
  
Psychic King: *sing song* Next Chapt~ GEEZE, you are SO demanding! *crosses arms across chest*  
  
Sakura: *Stomping foot* I WANT my body back!  
  
Psychic King: *looking annoyed* I'll THINK about it.  
  
Sasuke: *glaring* Think hard.  
  
Psychic King: *backing away grimacing* Damn he's scary when he's being possessive over Naruto. *looks to readers* Well, please Review!! I promise to work hard at getting the next chapter out to you, but don't expect too much before Friday (I've got exams all over the place next week and a term paper...) but I promise that finishing this battle scene is a MAJOR priority on my list! *sing song* Next Chapter, Next Chapter~ la la la la... Ah, and as always you can e-mail me, Psychic_King@hotmail.com Bye all! *waving* 


	22. Embrace of Chapter 22 P

Hi everyone, Psychic King here! Please bear with me, I;m starting the story a little different than usual this time, but I felt a short apology/explanation was in order (I'll keep it short, though as I am sure that anyone still interested in this story is eager to read the next chapter.  
  
Ok, so first off, I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter! It was not my intention to make you all wait three months to see what happens next; although I had my suspicions that if I didn't finish Embrace before my college finals (which took about a month including preparation) than I would not get to update for a long while (after finals I went on vacation out of town for a month! It was lots of fun!... er, sorry...). After that, it wasn't that I wasn't working on chapter 22, it was just that I could never get it to a point that I was actually happy with it... I ended up scraping the whole chapter I had already written and rewriting it like you will see below. I gotta thank everyone that that's been reviewing and reminding me that people are waiting. Special thanks to Bakasaru Boi, whose review mentioning that it had really been three months since the last update finally got me off my butt enough to rewrite the dribble I had already written... I really didn't intend to have THREE whole months between updates!!!!! I'm really sorry!  
  
Um, OK, a quick mention of the fact that the first three sections are done in flashback format, meaning that they are Illia's memories from when she is alive. I thought it would be a little more fun to have her story told (at least at first) as it happened, and then Sasuke gets to listen to her talk. Phew OK, that's it, enjoy the (finally) newest chapter of Embrace of Solitude!

Side note: scene changes now look like this: 888888888 Because I can't get the normal thing to show up....

88888888888888888888

Embrace of Solitude  
  
Chapter 22  
  
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Naruto's worried face appeared above his wife as he packed up his two eldest sons to head out on a training trip. "We can always train closer to home instead of going off for the night..."  
  
Illia laughed lightly, pushing her husband out of the cave entrance. "Tenmar and Uzu are both excited about the trip, if you cancel now you'll have two very disappointed little boys on your hands. Ganten and I will be fine. It's been so quiet recently, the biggest worry you have is us being bored to death."  
  
Naruto's brow creased. "If you'll be too lonely..."  
  
Illia put on her sternest glare, firmly pushing Naruto out the door, her two eldest sons grinned at her as they toddled after their father. Illia shook her head at the infant Ganten as he put as much of his tiny fist into his mouth as he could manage. She laughed as she heard a chorus of "I love you, mommy!" coming from the bottom of the cave. Suddenly a burst of blonde hair appeared before her.  
  
Naruto leaned into the cave, planting a passionate kiss on his startled wife. "I'll miss you, love." He jumped over to Ganten, pulling the small child into his arms he held him in a gentle hug for a long moment. "Take care of your mommy, little man." The infant gave his father an innocent, brilliantly happy smile and reached out a small hand, grabbing Naruto's nose. Lowering his son with a laugh, he placed another kiss on his wife, this time on her cheek. "The four days will pass before you know it. I'll send Aidan to check on you the day after tomorrow. If you're dieing of boredom by then, send him off to Sai and have her come visit."  
  
Illia shook her head, once again pushing her husband out of their home. "Naruto... You've left Tenmar and Uzu alone for three minutes now! I swear, if anything happens to my boys while you're off gallivanting-"  
  
"Training!" Naruto broke in reproachfully.  
  
"Fine, training; but if anything happens to them, I'm taking it out of your hide!"

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Illia sighed, looking out of the cave at the noontime sun for what seemed like the millionth time. It had only been eight short hours since Naruto left with Tenmar and Uzu and already Illia felt the pressures of loneliness and boredom. Looking over at Ganten she felt a pain of guilt. It wasn't that he was bad company, but... The last few years it seemed like the only companionship she HAD was toddlers and Naruto. There was always the local Shaman, Sai, her only friend, but she was always traveling and not at all easy to connect with. But this week, while Naruto and the boys were out, she'd promised to be nearby, just in case. Illia was pretty sure she knew where she'd be right about now... Gathering supplies near South Lake. That was a short trip and a pretty safe area. She would be fine and that would prove to Naruto that he didn't need to worry about her so much.  
  
Purposely avoiding putting enough thought into the decision to talk herself out of it, Illia went about packing Ganten and some supplies. "It's not too long of a trip..." She murmured, glancing at the sparse amount of food and water she was packing. "And we'll most likely run into Sai, so... Plus," She hefted Ganten into his baby harness (made by his daddy) and onto her back, "if I weigh myself down too much I won't be able to run as quickly... just in case."

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"Here you go," Illia cooed to Ganten, who laughed happily as his mother slipped him off her back and set him on the ground. "You like being able to crawl around, don't you?" Tossing her long, slim arms into the air and arching her back Illia stretched out the muscles that had tensed after carrying Ganten so long. "You are getting heavy my love."  
  
Ganten looked up from the rock he was holding. He'd been deliberating weather or not it would feel good in his mouth, but the musical sound of his mother's voice caused him to forget it entirely. He beamed happily up at her, slapping the ground with his open palms and cooing.  
  
Illia smiled as she curled onto the ground next to her son, glancing at the empty campsite they'd arrived at. A quick glance around told Illia that Sai was not planning on being gone long; there were large bags of supplies simply sitting around and there was no sign of struggle. Until then they would have to wait. The site was protected, Illia recognized a few of the wards Sai had put around the campsite, and no enemy could break through one of Sai's wards.  
  
Illia smiled as Ganten's breath evened out and he started snoring peacefully. She smiled fondly at the little one, it'd been a long morning for the both of them, and a little nap couldn't hurt. She'd just shut her eyes for a while...

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The sound of the fire cracking caused Illia's eyes to spring open. A quick glance around told her it was already dark and there was a figure huddled on the far side of the fire. "Sai?" Illia attempted to push herself into a sitting position but her limbs would not move. "Sai, is that you?" With a start she realized that Ganten was not by her side and once again she attempted to push herself up, once again she failed; it was as if there was an invisible force pushing down when she pushed up. "Who's there, where is my son?"  
  
"Oh..." The familiar sound of Kentaar's mocking voice caused a dark chill to run down Illia's body. "I didn't think he needed to be here for THIS, do you? It's not really appropriate."  
  
Concentrating all her remaining energy into her hands, Illia once again attempted to push the force over her, off, away, but once again there was no effect. "What did you do to him?" She shrieked, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she assessed the futility of her situation. Her only remaining hope was that Kentaar would lift the pressure and that somehow she could surprise him or hurt him enough to create a small chance of escape, but then... What of Ganten?  
  
"Relax, your son is safe and when I'm done you will be reunited. You don't have a chance of escaping me, so you might as well just... enjoy yourself." Kentaar spoke softly as he walked slowly closer. Illia's eyes widened in terror as Kentaar raised a glowing hand over her unmoving body...

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Illia trailed off and stared in the direction of Naruto and Kentaar's fight. Sasuke stared at her for a long moment before blinking, feeling slightly annoyed he asked, "And..?"  
  
Still staring almost dreamily off in the direction of Naruto Illia responded, "And I awoke. Sitting only a few feet from our cave, Ganten asleep next to me, it had all been a dream; everything after Naruto leaving. After that I decided not to leave the cave, not even to hunt, but the damage was done. Naruto thought we were safe from Kentaar, that he couldn't find us but that incident opened my eyes. Kentaar still feared and respected Naruto, yes, but he hadn't given up on his revenge; revenge against me for turning his brother against him, revenge against our children for being born, even against Naruto for taking me away from him. And every night for the rest of my life he reminded me of that hatred."  
  
Sasuke felt a stab of pity for the woman when he noticed the haunted, hollow look in her eyes. He could only imagine what Kentaar had done to her, obviously even her spirit was still suffering the effects, and she had held off going to her eternal rest to tell this story... "He appeared before you every night from that point on?"  
  
"In my dreams." Illia replied, still not looking at him. "Kentaar is a wolf and wolves... wolves have power over dreams." She held her hand to her forehead, closing her eyes as memories flooded though her. "A wolf is a creature that can live freely between the land of dream and reality. There are enough dreams that a wolf could wander aimlessly throughout them, never finding the same one twice, but once the bond has been made the wolf can return over and over again to the same person; a bond like the bond of family or a strong love or strong hate. Most wolves use it as a means of communication between their packs but most wolves don't have the benefit of a twisted human mind like Kentaar."  
  
Illia fell silent for a moment and Sasuke watched as she lowered her hand and fixed him with a hollow, empty stare. He found himself almost wishing that she would cry, scream, something, anything to express her emotions, but she just stared at him. He had always thought that he had killed his emotions but looking at Illia he realized that he didn't even know what it meant to die emotionally. It almost hurt to listen as she spoke again, "He told me in the dreams he sent me that he had planted his seed in me, and that I could no longer escape him; Naruto had been using his own power to protect us from him but apparently that one dream where he had found me, when I was stupid enough to take a nap with Ganten outside of the cave, was enough for him to gain a permanent hold on my mind. Before I even knew I was pregnant he told me that his seed had taken root and when I gave birth to Mina he claimed her as his own."  
  
"What did Naruto say about all of this?" Sasuke asked, sure of what her answer would be.  
  
Illia's soft reply confirmed his expectations, "I never told him," she said, empty look still in her eyes as she glanced again at the area just out of her reach where Naruto was fighting with Kentaar. "I was scared at first and then... it didn't seem to matter. Naruto was thrilled at the prospect of a new child, even more thrilled when Mina was born. His first daughter. Haha." A cold chill ran through Sasuke as he listened to Illia's emotionless laugh. "Naruto was always so proud of the fact that she looked so much like me and he loved her so much, so did the boys and... it didn't matter."  
  
"Naruto didn't notice the change in you?" Sasuke asked, unable to believe that that could have been the case.  
  
"He noticed. He noticed that I wasn't sleeping well; he noticed that I had no appetite. I didn't let him see anything else, I buried my happiness in him and our four children, I left my tears for when I was alone, which became almost never. The time passed quickly, and it was for the most part a happy time during the day and every night I fell into Hell until... it was almost Mina's second birthday and the winds changed. Naruto felt some direst in the air, he decided to go see his older brother, Tagen, to ask about these changes, he took Tenmar and Ganten with him, leaving Uzu, who was unwell at the time, and Mina with me." Once again she paused, breathing heavily she covered her ears wither her hands, shaking slightly. "That's when Kentaar showed up. Uzu was resting while Mina and I... played at the mouth of the cave. He took my baby and he..." Closing her eyes as if to block out an image only she could see, Illia continued, "He threw her, my little Mina, over the edge of the cliff our cave was on. I snapped. This whole time, since he had attacked me in my dream, I had done what he told me, believing that if I were to do so he would leave my family alone. But Mina... The child he even claimed as his own..." Eyes once again focused on nothing, but now open, Illia shook her head. Sasuke noticed that as she continued talking her voice and face started once again to show emotion; dark twisted emotion, but emotion all the same. "I attacked him. For Mina, who I thought was dead and for Uzu who was sleeping. For my first attack Kentaar just laughed at me and knocked me away, he kept looking over the edge of the cliff and maybe it was because something distracted him or maybe he didn't think I would be brave or stupid enough to attack again or maybe he even thought he had killed me, but... I got lucky with my next attack. I managed to get what was almost a killing blow in because of his inattentiveness; me the weakest ninja in Konoha, almost managed to kill the most dreadful monster of our time... but I missed. Instead of slitting his throat I cut from his ear down to the side of his neck. It wasn't enough, he healed almost instantly and then he transformed. He knocked me down again, this time with his claws."  
  
Sasuke found himself drawn to her hands which were now wandering across Sakura's torso and he shuddered realizing that she was tracing the areas that she had been hit. "Are you OK-"  
  
Ignoring his question Illia spoke again, "It hurt, but I survived. He probably would have left me alone at that point, I was down and despite my desires to rip his heart from his chest I could not move and he hadn't come to kill me, he'd come for Mina... And then I heard Uzu's scream." She was sobbing at this point and it took her a moment to compose herself to speak through her tears. "I opened my eyes and there was my son, barely five years old and half transformed into... a creature and he was trying to protect me. He attacked and, even though Kentaar was barely able to feel the attack he grew enraged. He pinned Uzu under his paw and... He was going to eat him and I couldn't let him. I didn't have any energy left, but I couldn't let him eat my son so I- I jumped between Kentaar and Uzu and he bit me instead. He shook me around in his mouth for what seemed an eternity and all I could do was lay there and wait to die, but from my position high in Kentaar's mouth I could see what he had been looking over the cliff for. A giant wolf cub was clawing its way up the cliff."  
  
Sasuke stared at her as the impact of her words hit. "So Mina really is...?"  
  
Illia nodded, face once again emotionless. "She is his daughter. He's been protecting her by disguising her transformations, but in that instant I knew the truth. I died as I heard the sounds of Naruto screaming and I never got a chance to tell him. I couldn't pass on, I couldn't leave my family with a wolf in their midst. So I stayed and watched over my struggling family... Mina knew, she knew that Kentaar was her father; she knew that he was using her to find the boys' location at all times and she knew that he would kill them after they found Naruto for him and she never told them. Not only that, but-"  
  
"Sai-sama is ready. The ritual must start now or your friend will be lost forever." The sound of Gin's voice, breaking into Illia's story caused Sasuke to jump momentarily.  
  
Sasuke glared at the man, "One second." But Gin ignored him, and already was caring Sakura's body to the center of the make-shift bone circle.  
  
"Mina still talks to Kentaar at night, it's not that she can't block off his dreams, she's scared to!" Suddenly Sai was pouring a dark liquid into her mouth causing Illia to cough and sputter. "Listen! He knows how to take over her body when she doesn't want to obey him, but she really..."  
  
Sasuke watched in annoyed shock as Illia went limp and Sai began chanting over her body. It was Gin's hand on his shoulder that broke him from his state. "You know enough now, I can take care of your friend."  
  
Sasuke didn't need to wait for a second offer, he ran as fast had his leg would carry him in the direction of the sound of Naruto's battle. Something inside of him kept crying, "Faster! Faster!" And he found himself praying, "Don't let me be too late!" When he heard the sound of Naruto screaming Mina's name he found a way to move faster than he would have thought possible for his body.

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Kakashi grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. Kentaar fought surprisingly well against two strong opponents. He watched the tall man that was only a day ago his small student, Naruto, eyes red, face monstrous, dash at the man, jump only a millimeter before Kentaar could hit him and swing a kick at Kentaar. The wolf man easily avoided the kick but was not able to avoid the tail that had suddenly appeared from Naruto's backside, which whacked him in the face. Disoriented, but not enough to let his guard fall Kentaar grabbed at the tail which disappeared with a poof of smoke as his hands curled around it. Moving quickly Kakashi formed the seals for his Chidori while dashing into the fray. He managed to hit the wolf in the stomach, but it didn't seem to matter much as Kentaar grabbed Kakashi's wrist and twisted.  
  
Kakashi allowed his body to follow his arm and ended up with a bump on his head rather than a broken arm. Naruto's teeth were suddenly in Kentaar's arm, and Kentaar screamed in pain and rage as he released Kakashi. Naruto tore his teeth from his brother's arm but not without taking a large hunk of flesh and muscle with him. The wound began healing before their very eyes, not that Kakashi had a lot of time to watch it happen. He sighed, they were getting nowhere; the only person that was getting any lasting damage was Kakashi himself. He glanced at Naruto to see the blonde man once again rushing blindly in. He wasn't able to hit any of the critical spots on Kentaar, the wolf man had them too well protected, but he should at least be wearing down the man's chakara. He glanced back at Kentaar in time to notice the forming of a set of seals that he had never seen before. "Naruto! Get back!"  
  
Naruto looked at Kakashi for a moment, watching the man dash backwards, away from the fight quickly. Then his world exploded in a mixture of dirt and fire. Naruto was lifted off the ground and with a thud he landed against a tree, a cracking sound echoed through the forest and Naruto moved quickly as the tree split in half. Glancing to where Kentaar was he growled in frustration as he realized that the man had disappeared. "Kakashi! Did you see where he went?"  
  
Kakashi was in motion before Naruto even spoke, dashing in the direction that the man had disappeared to. Naruto followed the silver haired man, trying to sniff for signs of Kentaar, but the smell of fire was over powering. It then hit him, the direction Kentaar was heading; it was towards the area he had left Mina. "MINA! Run!" Naruto screamed, knowing that it would be too late if Kentaar managed to get his claws on her.

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Ganten stiffened as he heard the sound of his father screaming for his sister and stopped his movements mid-attack. Rin also stopped his movements, listening to Ganten's thoughts. "'No more playing around?'" Rin asked, picking the thoughts from the top of Ganten's head.  
  
Ganten glared at the boy, face stern. "If you don't stop toying with me, I'll kill you."  
  
Rin laughed as he moved backwards in anticipation of the frontal attack Ganten was planning. His mind registered surprise as he picked up the words 'Not fast enough.' And then Ganten had him, was clutching his neck with a clawed hand. He made a chocking noise as his feet were lifted from the ground and he clawed at Ganten's arm.  
  
Ganten grinned darkly as he held the boy, "Let me do some mind reading if my own. First, you are surprised that I'm suddenly so much faster, And second you are thinking, 'This is how it ends...?' Am I right?"  
  
Rin struggled, he could read every though going through Ganten's mind, and he knew without a shadow of doubt that he would not escape the boy's grip because Ganten knew; he also knew that Ganten did not want to kill him, but had no desire for Rin to chase him after he left. Rin's struggling increased as Ganten used his free hand to reach for one of his arms. With a sickening snap the arm fell limp at Rin's side. The hand reached for his leg next and the process was repeated until both arms and legs hung uselessly at his side.  
  
Ganten looked sadly at Rin as he dropped the boy to the ground. He still would have liked to take him as a companion, but... Thoughts shifting to his sister and father Ganten turned. Rin lay on the ground in pained shock, the only thing he could make his mind do was listen to Ganten's thoughts until the other boy was finally out of his range. When he was completely out of reach Rin allowed his sorrow to over take him and he wept; for some reason never before had he felt so alone.

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Uzu reached Tenmar and Iruka moment ahead of Kasai and smiled slightly at the scene before his eyes. They were sleeping on a very large branch of one of the giant trees around Konoha; Iruka was sitting up and leaning against the trunk of a tree while Tenmar was curled securely around the brunette, clutching him as if his life depended on the teacher. "Oi!" Uzu screamed, causing both men to jump to their feet. Tenmar had bandages tied around his waist, but it was obvious that the wounds were mostly healed; Iruka seemed to be in worse condition now, although it was apparent that that had not been the case when they fell asleep.  
  
"Uzu!" Tenmar smiled at his brother. Normally being woken up in such a way was upsetting, but in light of the fact that Uzu was alive, Tenmar couldn't bring himself to get mad. "How's Naruto-sama and the others?"  
  
Iruka also stared at him eyes wide, "Kakashi? Is he alright?"  
  
Uzu shook his head, "Everyone was fine when I last saw them, but I have not yet seen Ganten; Kakashi and Daddy were in the process of fighting Kentaar when I left."  
  
It was at this point that Kasai appeared, "Aidan..." He pushed his nose against his brother tentatively, "Is he...?"  
  
Iruka turned to the fox, "He's sleeping. He was badly hurt, but I think he'll be fine."  
  
Tenmar stood, "I'll send you both back now."  
  
Uzu shook his head. "I agree that Aidan needs to go back, but we need Kasai and you need your chakara. Something's happening in Konoha, Daddy wants us to go help protect it."  
  
"Why don't you send just Aidan back?" Iruka asked.  
  
"It doesn't work that way." Kasai responded. "We can only go back and forth as a pair... It's fine." He announced, once again rubbing his nose against his brother's and whispering softly before glancing up at the humans. "Aidan is strong enough to survive and we can't leave cubs like you wandering around with no protection. Aidan can stay here alone; let's get to this Konoha quickly."

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Sasuke sighed as he glanced around himself. There was obviously a battle in the spot he was standing, the ground was torn up and scorched in a huge circle, one of the giant trees was also broken in half, but he had no clue what direction the three had gone from there. Obviously Kentaar had used the ball of flame in order to make a hasty escape, but what direct did he run in? And what direction did Kakashi and Naruto go? Normally Naruto left a trail obvious enough for a blind man to track him, but not this time, why'd the dobe have to pick this time to cover his trail?  
  
Sasuke jumped quickly to the tops of the trees in hopes of seeing something from above. He could see movement in the direction back towards Konoha, but was that Naruto or something else? With a frustrated growl he followed his only lead, racing back in the direction of his town. "Naruto!"  
  
"Sasuke-san." A quiet reply came, and Mina stepped out form behind a tree. She looked ill, her face was pale and her clothes were soaked with sweat, like she was fighting with an illness. "You talked to that woman, didn't you?" She stumbled forward, reaching out to Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke took a step away from the girl as she tumbled towards him; forcing her to catch herself before she fell. He had trouble believing that Mina meant to kill either Naruto or her brothers, but Illia's story was still very fresh in his head. "Mina? Do you know where Naruto is?"  
  
"HE is leading him to Konoha. Kentaar-" Suddenly the girl lurched forward, chocking and gasping for air. Without thinking Sasuke caught her as she was about to fall to the ground a second time.  
  
"Mina!"  
  
The red haired girl turned her head to face Sasuke, voice barely a whisper, "He's telling me to do things, but I don't want to listen... He wants me to kill you, Sasuke. I try to fight him, but it's so hard. You should kill me, before I loose control."  
  
Sasuke shook his head as he stared down at the girl, logically he really should kill Mina, she was a danger to everyone that way she was now, and she was even aware enough of it that she was willing to sacrifice herself, but he couldn't do it. Naruto would never forgive him, hell he wasn't even sure that he would be able to forgive himself. He lay the girl on the ground then pulled a small vial from his pocket, "You'll be fine, I'll just drug you and bind your hands and feet and-"  
  
Mina's back arched and she screamed in pain, eyes squeezed shut, "It won't work, you're already too late-" Her body began twisting and contorting, her eyes snapped open to reveal a eerie yellow glow and her arms and legs grew longer, her body, too, grew until she was almost as tall as the trees, hair was sprouting rapidly from all over her body. Sasuke was forced to retreat as her body continued to mutate. When it was over where Mina has once stood instead was one giant claw of the biggest wolf Sasuke has ever seen; it towered above the tree line and when it took a tentative step backward the world shook around it. For a moment its head snapped in Sasuke's direction, and he could see his own reflection in the enormous yellow eye, then, as if in pain, it lowered its head, shaking it like there was a bee buzzing around it but the moment passed and the creature that had been Mina turned her attention towards Konoha. With a mighty howl it leapt into the air and was gone. A chorus of hundreds, if not thousands of wolves returned the call.  
  
A strong feeling began to well in Sasuke as he watched Mina disappear, even in wolf for she had enough control to keep herself from attacking him, but in sparing his life was now all of Konoha a sacrifice? "Shit."

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Shawn glared between his compatriots. He had eventually been forced to separate them, like bickering children. He gave a frustrated growl as he noticed the two of them stopping to stare at him with pitiful, begging eyes. "I told you that I'd separate you if you didn't get along, didn't I? Now get back to keeping lookout!"  
  
Each of them heaved a long suffering sigh and looked back over the dark sea of wolves. The creatures had been deathly silent since they had heard that scream, but now it appeared that something was agitating them. Shawn leaned over the edge of the high wall as he heard the wolves snarl and then there was a blast of bright light.  
  
"What the hell was THAT?" Yoh asked, also leaning over the edge as far as he could without falling over.  
  
"There's people down there!" Saya exclaimed, pointing towards the spot directly beneath them. Now Shawn could see it, too, the blast must have been to clear a passage way, there were now three men and a giant dog running towards the wall, full force, but the wolves were recovering quickly. Just as the wolves were pouncing the biggest of the three men grabbed onto the smallest and together they all jumped. "Those idiots, they aren't gonna make it!"  
  
Shawn nodded in silent agreement, it was hard to say the least to jump the wall from the outside, only the highest level ninja were able to do it easily, and if they started to fall, there was no grip on the wall to use as leverage to get back up and chakara wouldn't stick... With a thud the first of the three men slammed into Yoh, sending the confused man flying backwards as the other two men and what looked like a giant fox also perched on the wall.  
  
"Sorry about that," the tall redheaded stranger was saying, holding his hand out to help Yoh up. "What were you doing, leaning over the side like that anyway? If you have time to stare you should have offered to help, you know most people probably can't manage that jump."  
  
Shawn stared between the men in confusion, when his eyes caught on someone familiar. "Iruka-sensei?" He stepped forward, grabbing the brunette's arm. "What were you doing out there? What's going on?"  
  
The man that had been holding onto Iruka answered, "The wolves are-" The man's words cut off as he tumbled forward, and Shawn noticed a puddle of blood beginning to form underneath his feet.  
  
Iruka caught the tall man as he toppled to the ground. "I had a feeling you were pushing yourself too hard, bastard."  
  
Tenmar shook his head, pushing Iruka away and standing once again. "I'll be fine! We need to warn people about Kentaar."  
  
"What's a Kentaar?" Yoh asked. Before anyone could answer there was an earsplitting howling sound and the earth began to shake. Yoh looked down to see the wolves as one rear their heads and howl in response then, almost as if in a trance he looked up and his eyes caught on a giant yellow orb hanging unsteadily slightly above the tree line. It slowly moved closer. "What the...?"  
  
"Dear God..." Saya muttered as a mouth the size of her apartment, barring fangs the size of her torso appeared almost an arms length away from them. "That's the biggest freakin wolf I've ever seen."  
  
"That's a Kentaar." Uzu muttered, humorless smile twisting his face.

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Sakura: 88 clicking around on her computer 88  
  
Naruto: 88 BIG sigh 88 Where's the old hag been for the last THREE MONTHS?????? I think she's forgotten about us!  
  
Tenmar: Normally it wouldn't worry me, except... We were just in the middle of a BIG fight, what the hell's going on???  
  
Ganten: Well, we know its not writers block, because those root things would be attacking again...  
  
Sasuke 88 grumbling 88  
  
Naruto: Well, whatever it is, it's gotta stop! Sasuke's been pouting ever since Illia showed up! Anyway, I want to know what's going on with Mina!  
  
Sakura: 88 peeking over the top of the monitor to look at the others 88 Mina's Kentaar's daughter.  
  
Naruto: ... Yeah... that makes sense...  
  
Sasuke: 88 growling 88 But what about that evil she-demon possessing your body?  
  
Illia: 88 hovering over Sasuke's shoulder 88 WHOM are you referring to, Sasuke- kun??  
  
Naruto: 88 stepping between the two, tired, strained smile on his face 88 Now, now... Don't fight you two...  
  
Sakura: 88 once again peeking over the computer 88 I think she's gonna be gone soon...  
  
Naruto: 88 strained 88 She'd better; I'm SO tired of being the voice of reason.  
  
Illia: 88 hurt88 What? You don't love me anymore? You don't want me around you?  
  
Sasuke: 88 snorting88 I think THAT'S obvious.  
  
Naruto: NO! That's NOT what I meant! I- sigh Of COURSE I love you, it's just, you ARE dead and Sakura ISN'T and I just... 88 putting on his saddest face88 I don't want to loose anyone else I care about ever again...sniffing  
  
Illia: 88 floating over to Naruto88 Oh! No, I'm sorry! I've just been over emotional since this whole situation started... Sasuke and I won't fight, right Sasuke?  
  
Sasuke: 88 glares at Illia, then looks at Naruto's sad face88 Fine! Whatever.  
  
Naruto: 88 heaves a big sigh of relief, muttering88 thank God...  
  
Uzu: 88walking by88 Yeah, you tow shouldn't take your frustration out on each other anyway. Save your anger for the person really at fault.  
  
Naruto: 88 in a worried tone88 Who's that?  
  
Uzu: Psychic-King-sama! She's obviously off enjoying herself with NO CARE for our well being. She hasn't even checked in to see if we're still alive.  
  
Naruto: You know, I hadn't thought of it that way...  
  
Sasuke: 88 dark light behind his eyes88 I have, oh I have...  
  
Sakura: 88 once again peering over the monitor88 Um, guys? I'm all for ganging up on Psychic King-sama, but I think, before you all get gun ho about it, you should know that she's update-  
  
Tenmar: 88 growling88 Argh! I can't believe I didn't see it before! She doesn't care about us at all! When she finally comes back, I think we should be ready...  
  
Naruto: 88 eyebrows raised88 What do you think we should do? I mean, she acts like an idiot sometimes, but she's actually pretty wily.  
  
Sasuke: 88 leaning in conspiratorially88 I've actually put some thought into this... What I think we need to do... 88 voice drops to a low whisper88  
  
Psychic King: 88 hiding around a corner, looking towards readers88 Well, crap... Um, I think I'm just gonna stay right here for a while, but... If you are more forgiving than they are, please find it in your heart to review, but if not... please send complaints to my e-mail address (can't seem to make the link work...) ... There WILL be another chapter! I promise that I will have it out BEFORE the next three months pass... Actually, I do have it started, but I am not promising a time frame (fear of angry letters). I will warn you that if it's not out by Friday (not likely, I think) than it will be... not until the week after next. I debated if I should wait until the next chapter was ready before I release this one, but I decided that maybe I had waited long enough... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's the longest one yet, as a kind of apology (but I STILL didn't manage to finish the fight)...


	23. Embrace of the begining of the end

Psychic King: OK, in a last ditch effort to warp this battle up I, Psychic King, have decided to take what some may call the 'cheaty' way out. I fear it may not be completely pretty, but a Psychic King's gotta do what a Psychic King's gotta do. I have gone over and over in my mind what to do, in fact I have several versions of the last three or four chapters because I couldn't find a way to write it that pleased me; despite what you may think, I DO have my principles, so please forgive any cheating that may occur on my part, but in order to bring you chapters in a timely manner THIS BATTLE MUST END! Don't understand? Please read the chapter... (which I am pretty happy with, by the way) ::::rambles off, still muttering::::

Sasuke: ::::annoyed:::: What's she babbling about NOW?

Naruto: ::::shaking his head:::: I donno... She's been pretty weird since she got back, you know? ::::Shrugging:::: Maybe it's a mental break down?

Psychic King: ::::rambling back on:::: By the way, in case you couldn't guess... I don't own Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke or any other actual character I may have actually mentioned in this story... But hey, maybe if I could go back in time I could create the story before its original creator and take all the profit... But I still can't draw... ::::rambles off again, once again muttering::::

QUICK EDIT! MY section breaks aren't working! I've tried a few things but nothing wants to work, so we'll see... Sorry!-so for now it'll looke like this:

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Embrace of Solitude

Chapter 23

Sakura sighed, once again staring at her hands as she moved them. They were going the direction she told them to, that felt good at least. The last couple hours had seemed like a distant dream, where she could watch but not interfere, it had been very disconcerting. Gin smiled at her as he continued picking up the remains of the bone circle they had made.

"It may not have seemed like much, but it really was a good thing you did." He said softly. "Because of you, your aunt can now pass on."

"Yeah..." Sakura replied, lost in thought and not really paying attention. For a brief moment she and her Aunt had shared her body... a very brief moment, but still, it had been enough for her to live the whole of Illia's life, from Illia's perspective. She had laughed with her, cried with her and... Naruto... Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of the blonde idiot and she felt a blush creeping onto her face. "I know... I know everything. Is that normal?"

Gin laughed, patting the girl on the head. "For a while it will all be fresh in your mind; right now you probably feel like it was YOUR life, don't you?" There was a tentative nod. "That's normal. Eventually it will fade and become more like... how you remember an old friend."

Sakura's blush grew even brighter as she remembered Illia's wedding night with Naruto. She was beginning to wonder how she would ever look Naruto in the eye again...

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"That's a Kentaar." Uzu muttered, humorless smile twisting his face. He heard in the distance the sounds of alarms going off, he heard someone shouting about the city having been emptied and how it was finally time to attack. The speech was probably rather inspirational, but Uzu couldn't bring himself to listen as he stared at the giant wolf before him. Every bone in his body, every hair on his head, every inch of his attention was focused only on his Uncle. Even as the giant creature raised a humongous paw, crashing it down on the wall next to him, sending debris, bodies, dust and God knows what else flying everywhere Uzu remained in place, fixated.

Someone was standing next to him, someone was yelling to him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Uzu turned his head towards the person, but his eyes couldn't focus on anything besides the creature before him. He was vaguely aware that someone was carrying him, that someone was taking him farther away from Kentaar and then there was more yelling, more debris, more fur. Uzu struggled out of the grip of the person holding onto him and they just let him fall. Of course they did, there was a war going on, no one had time to fight a friend and protect their town.

Once on the ground Uzu stood. The war between the wolves and the Ninja waged on around him, neither side bothering to pay him much attention, each focused on each other so Uzu moved forward, closer to the giant creature. Never once since the night his mother was killed had Uzu seen his Uncle in full splendor like this. He was awed at the giant form and he felt... calm; it was a feeling uncommon to him. For the last twelve years Uzu had operated in a frenzy of emotion. Anger, fear, happiness, rage, sorrow, hate; he'd been unable to stop the torrent of emotions, unwilling to, but now, as he stared at the creature that killed his mother, that deprived him of a childhood, that stole TWELVE years of life as a family with his father away from him, deprived his sister of all memories of-

Uzu's eyes widened as a second giant wolf, smaller, but still huge, appeared almost before his eyes. His sister... Mina! Suddenly his shoulder shattered with pain and Uzu's body fell to the ground, battle raging around him.

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Uzu opened his eyes, coughing slightly. He wasn't sure if he was coughing because he woke up or if he woke up because he was coughing. What he WAS sure of right now was that he was miserable. He had even missed going out with Daddy to see Uncle Tagen and left home like a GIRL with his mother and little sister... Not that he really minded having Mommy and Mina-chan all to himself. After taking a long drink of water he snuggled deeper under the warm blankets covering him, closing his eyes; yeup, there were good points to being sick, too.

The sound of a man yelling snapped his eyes back open; was Daddy home? He cautiously pulled the blankets back, crawling on his hands and knees towards the cave entrance, he peeked his head around the corner; if Mommy found him out of bed she'd scold him for sure.

"You're scaring her!" His mother was saying, her voice wobbled strangely. "Give her back to me!"

Uzu's eyes widened as he stared at some strange man; he looked KIND OF like Daddy, but he was bigger and he had long brown hair- no maybe it was gray... And his eyes were yellow! He stared in fascination at the large yellow eyes which were fixed on Mina, who he was holding high in the air. Uzu gulped as the stranger's eyes snapped briefly to him and a cold, cruel smirk twisted the almost handsome face. "Give her back? She's mine, woman, and I'll take her if I want! You're just a temporary caretaker."

Uzu's mouth shook with sadness as the man walked towards the edge of the cliff with his sister. Was he really going to take her away? "GIVE MY SISTER BACK!" Uzu hollered moving fully out of the cave now and approaching the man, but his words were drowned out by his mother's screams as the man tossed the little girl, blanket and all, over the side. He heard the small sounds of his sister shrieking as she fell.

For a moment Uzu's body stood perfectly still, shock washing over his being. Why would an ADULT throw a little child over the edge of a cliff? This stranger had to be playing a trick on Mommy, Mina was fine, Daddy probably caught her just on the other side of the cliff, Mina was fine. He stood for a long moment staring at the edge of the cliff, waiting for his father's smiling face to appear with Mina, Tenmar and Ganten and then they would all laugh because they managed to scare Mommy and everything would be OK. But his father never came.

Eyes wide, Uzu turned to watch as his mother, screaming like a woman possessed, launched herself at the strange man, knife in hand. Blood sprayed everywhere as the knife cut through the man's face; Uzu screamed as the warm red liquid spattered over his body. A few drops landed in his mouth and Uzu fell to the ground as the slightly salty metallic taste filled his mind.

"Tsk, Tsk, you should not have done that, Illia..." The strange man said, turning towards the woman, eyes beginning to glow. Then the man grew bigger and harrier and... a giant dog-looking thing now stood where the man had been.

Uzu's body began to shake as the giant dog smacked his mother with its claws, sending her body flying. There was a sickening slapping sound as she slammed into the rock wall, a small pool of blood already formed beneath her as she slid to the ground.

"Are you just going to sit there? Don't you want to avenge your sister and mother, or are you just a pathetic weakling?" The dog asked; when Uzu failed to respond it snorted and looked back over the cliff's edge.

A burning sensation filled Uzu's body and he screamed as hair began to sprout from his arms, chest and back. His mouth throbbed as his teeth grew longer and sharper and his hands and feet prickled as his fingers and nails elongated into claws. He didn't know what had just happened to him, but he didn't really care as he rushed headlong towards the THING that killed Mommy and... Mina... He heard his voice come out as a pathetic howling cry as he reached the creature's leg and dug his teeth and claws into it.

Before he fully had gotten used to the feel of biting into living flesh he was tossed into the air by the creature. He landed on the ground and one humongous paw landed on top of him, claws stabbing into his chest. Instinctively his back arched from the pain, causing him to push the claws deeper into his own body. He saw the creature's mouth move down, and for a moment he thought, 'The last thing I'm gonna smell in my life is doggy breath.' But then his mother was there, standing between him and the fast approaching face. HE screamed as the mouth attached itself to his mother rather than him and watched in horror as his mother's body was thrashed around like a rag doll in the creature's mouth. He tried to move, but the pain tearing through his shoulder was too much for his five year old body to bear, as he was passing out he noticed another, smaller giant dog with bright green eyes climb painfully up the cliff.

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"Mina!" Uzu jumped from the ground with a start, looking around himself. Apparently after he passed out on the battlefield someone had dragged him to a building that had been turned into a makeshift front line hospital. That was a good sign for Konoha, if they had time to care for their wounded than the battle must be going in their favor. He settled down onto the mat he'd been laid upon, clutching at his chest. He noticed that he'd been bandaged and looked down to see that he was indeed bleeding. But those wounds were from over twelve years ago, how could they...?

Shaking his head, Uzu stormed towards the door of the hospital shirtless, tearing off the bandages as he walked. He heard someone calling after him as he left, but he didn't even pause as he headed towards the sounds of battle. Mina... Mina was Kentaar's daughter, how could he have not noticed it? And right now, she was most likely fighting their father and brothers in the form of a damn wolf and... And it would kill Naruto to have anything to do with her death. Especially if, as Uzu suspected, Mina was not in full control of herself right now.

It did not take Uzu long to find his family, two giant wolves and one giant fox, with two Ware-fox running around were not hard to spot in a crowd. It seemed that his father had sufficiently managed to lure Kentaar out of the city, but not completely away from it. Uzu growled as he dashed by ninja fighting both other ninja and wolves. It appeared that Kentaar had a bigger attack force than he thought, but nothing Konoha couldn't take. Of course, if Kentaar weren't occupied with Naruto than the battle would definitely be flowing in his favor.

There was a sudden burst of flame and then a dark figure was running along side him. "Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell's going on?" Uzu couldn't stop himself from asking.

Sasuke gave the man a critical look. "I figured you'd know, I just got here a little while ago. I need to get to Naruto!"

"So do I." Uzu added, after a moment he turned his head towards the boy. "I need your help; you have to tell my father something."

"You want me to tell him that Mina's the other giant wolf?" Sasuke replied dryly, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"How'd YOU know?"

"Your mother told me, anyway, I saw her transform. You?"

"Repressed memories... What do you mean, my MOTHER told you?" Uzu asked, erupting as Sasuke's words sunk in.

"Long story. Look, I'll talk to Naruto; you work on snapping Mina out of whatever trance Kentaar has her in, OK? She doesn't want to hurt you guys."

"That's good to know." Uzu replied, grin creeping across his face. The knowledge that Mina didn't hate the last twelve years with them made him exceptionally happy; he could care less if they had different fathers, in his mind she would always be his little sister.

Sasuke nodded to Uzu as they reached their targets and headed their separate ways. He now found himself faced with an interesting dilemma; HOW was he going to tell Naruto ANYTHING while he was a giant nine tailed demon fox fighting against his brother, a giant nine tailed demon wolf? His eyes widened a bit as he noticed Kakashi and a number of other upper level ninja for the first time, darting in and out of the fight. He felt a quick stab of jealousy that Naruto would allow Kakashi by his side to fight Kentaar and would send Sasuke off to baby-sit Sakura. That jealousy was quickly replaced by anger and it was with that emotion that he went to face Naruto.

'How dare he not allow me to fight at his side?' Sasuke thought as he ducked under a tall nearby tree and began climbing. He quickly climbed up the tree, if Naruto and Kentaar were to stand still for a moment he could probably jump and make it onto Naruto's back, the problem was, how was he going to get them to stand still? The tree shook viciously as Naruto pounced back a few feet, one large red eye caught on Sasuke's form in the tree. Sasuke scowled as he saw the fox heave a huge sigh and jump forward quickly.

'Shit, he's trying to protect me!' Sasuke realized as Naruto clamped his teeth down on the wolf's neck, pushing him backward.

"What the Hell are you doing here, Sasuke?" Kakashi demanded, appearing suddenly next to the dark haired boy. "Your stink is strong enough for that monster to have caught it by now; you're only making things harder for Naruto."

Sasuke's scowl deepened as Kakashi's words hit a note of truth in the boy's mind. "I have to talk to Naruto!"

The masked man shook his head, laying a kind hand on the boy's head and pushing him firmly away. "Get out of here. You can talk to Naruto later."

The world shook once again as the wolf Sasuke knew to be Mina fell backwards and crashing into Naruto. Sasuke felt himself slipping forward in surprise, grabbing onto Kakashi for support before he fell off the tree. He watched in horror as the Naruto-fox turned an annoyed head towards Mina, ready to clamp down firmly on her neck and tear it out. Without thinking he jumped, trying desperately to get between Naruto and his daughter. "NARUTO, STOP! THAT'S MINA!" He screamed louder than he would have thought humanly possible, praying his message would reach the fox in time.

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"MINA!" Uzu screamed as he approached the smaller of the two wolves, its eyes were a glossy yellow. He ignored the various ninja that were trying to approach him, keep him from his sister. His eye caught on familiar shapes on the far side of his sister, Tenmar and Ganten were both attacking one of Mina's hind legs, trying to force her to fall to her feet. He wanted to yell at them to stop, but there wasn't time. He noticed with a small amount of joy that neither Tenmar nor Ganten had any new visible wounds on them, the same could not be said for any OTHER being within range of the wolf.

"Mina! Wake up! You don't want to do this!" His sister paid him no heed; instead she lifted a humungous paw and lowered it swiftly upon a nearby Ninja. For a moment Uzu was afraid that his eyes were going to pop out of his head, and blood was gurgling from his mouth, but before he died she lifted her paw and flicked the man out of her way, turning to snap at a woman standing on her back. She wasn't killing people... Not even the Ninja, she wasn't killing!

A surge of hope rushed through him, if only he could make her listen to him! Maybe if he could get her to look at him. "TENMAR! GANTEN! Help me!" He screamed, jumping quickly up a nearby tree, he knocked into one of the Konoha ninja as he did so, pushing them away. It was a young man, probably younger than he was. "Get the away from here." He didn't wait to see if the boy took his advice.

By the time Uzu reached the top of the tree and stood eye level with Mina, Tenmar and Ganten had finally noticed him and were making their way to join him, confused and angry looks on their faces. "What the HELL are you doing here?" Tenmar demanded, grabbing his brother's arm, trying to pull him away.

"Tenmar, it's MINA!"

Tenmar stared at his younger brother critically. He'd passed out only moments after Kentaar had sown up and now he was trying to convince him that the monster they were facing was Mina? Tenmar shook his head, noticing the glossy look in Uzu's eyes. "Kentaar's done something to you, hasn't he?"

"No! He's done something to MINA!" Uzu practically shouted, for a moment he wanted to hit his brother. Was he just going to sit here while strangers KILLED their sister? "Look, why do you think that out of everyone you and Ganten are the only ones that haven't been hurt? Why do you think that she hasn't killed anyone? She doesn't want to do this, Kentaar is FORCING her to, and you HAVE TO help me wake her up!"

Ganten stared, eyes narrowed at his brothers before nodding. "I don't know if Uzu's right, but there IS something strange about this wolf, and, Tenmar, are you really willing to take the chance?"

Tenmar glared between his brothers for a moment then sighed. "Alright, I'll give you five minutes, if you can't snap her out of it by then, then you have to help us take her down."

Uzu shook his head, "I can't-"

Tenmar put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Uzu, if it IS Mina, don't you think that she'd rather die than be stuck like this? You have five minutes; Ganten and I will stop the others from attacking until then."

Uzu nodded, swallowing a big lump that was forming in his throat. Five minutes... Taking a deep breath Uzu waited a moment for Tenmar and Ganten to make good on their promise to remove the ninja from the scene, thinking about what he was supposed to say. Long speeches about the happiness of life had never been one of his strong points. "Mina!" He called again, wondering if Sasuke had made it to his father. "Mina, listen to me!"

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The wolf stood for a moment in surprise as all of the prey disappeared, then it focused a yellow eye on Uzu. Something inside her head was screaming that she should attack the pathetic man, kill him, maim him, destroy! But something else, far more insistent, deeper in her mind was telling her to hold back, don't kill this one! Not this one!

She shook her head, moving a step backwards. She didn't know anything but the desire to kill and this ringing in her ears, she couldn't think, she needed to run away, but where to?

"...to me! Mina! It's Uzu, your brother! Da-Naruto needs your help, please wake up!" The voice came to her from a distance, but as she stared at the man something began to click inside her.

Uzu... Brother... Uzu! Her eyes opened wide and she felt her own mind re-exerting control. Father needed her? Mina, still in wolf form, turned to glance at the battle still raging beside her. Her two fathers, the man that conceived her and the man that she was raised to love, were fighting, things were not going well, she glanced back at Uzu.

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Uzu sank to the ground triumphantly as his sister's eyes flashed green then normalized. He heard Tenmar yelling happily, "Mina! It really is you! I'm so glad!" Uzu could hear the relief in his voice.

"I TOLD you, bastard!" And then many things happened almost all at once.

"DIE BEAST!" A ninja broke from a tall tree near Uzu, arm glowing. Uzu, Tenmar and Ganten began moving, but they knew by the time they reached their sister it would be too late. They were right, the ninja was already standing on Mina's nose, fist buried inside her right eye. He yanked and the eye came out with a sickening pop.

For a moment Tenmar stared at the man in horror and disgust then he heard the scream beside him, "BASTARD!" Before he realized it, a white haired blob was rushing forward, even as Mina fell backwards. Ganten didn't seem to notice that the creature was moving; he was too focused on the man holding what was left of his sister's eyeball. "How DARE you hurt my SISTER, you BASTARD!" Ganten's hands wrapped around the startled man's neck and Tenmar moved quickly.

"Ganten, he didn't know, stop before you kill him!" Tenmar insisted, holding the boy away from the man.

Ganten wasn't paying attention; he growled and spat as he kicked at the man. His first kick connected, but by the second, Tenmar had pulled him further away from the man. "LET GO OF ME, TENAMR!" Ganten bellowed, still scratching to get to the man.

But Tenmar had no intention of letting go; Tenmar was vaguely aware that Mina had backed accidentally into their father, but his full attention was occupied by his squirming brother, wasn't Ganten supposed to be the composed one? He was so occupied by controlling his brother that he barely heard Sasuke's scream of, "NARUTO, STOP! THAT'S MINA!" Tenmar turned in time to watch as his father's giant mouth descended on his sister's neck, fangs barred.

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By the time Naruto processed what Sasuke was screaming, it was too late. His mouth had already closed on something and blood was trickling down his tong. Whatever it was felt small to be Mina's jugular. Fear coursed through his body as he opened his mouth and a body fell limply out. His transformation began slipping away as he stared down at a mixture of pale skin and dark red blood, all with a familiar black mass of hair.

"Sasuke!" The dark haired boy vaguely heard Naruto's voice screaming his name. He opened his eyes slightly, barely able to see through the pained tears forming in his eyes.

"That hurt, dobe." Sasuke muttered, eyes focusing slightly on a blonde mass of hair standing over him. The last question that went through his mind as he passed out was when did the blonde get so tall?

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"...I don't CARE if it's a baby; I say we kill it before it grows back up." A male voice hollered; in the background Sasuke could head hear the loud sound of a baby screaming. He opened his eyes tentatively, but quickly closed them again; the light in the room was painfully bright.

"Now that he's like this, I can't allow you to kill him," A voice a lot like Naruto's replied. But that can't be Naruto, Sasuke was sure. Naruto's voice was higher pitched, less commanding and almost always filled with some sort of mischievous laughter, but it was a comforting sound all the same. "Anyway," the voice continued, "even like this, he wouldn't be easy to kill." The baby's crying tampered off as the calming voice continued to speak.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation later." A third voice replied. He recognized that voice from somewhere, it was... Iruka-sensei? Sasuke listened to the sound of two people leaving the room and relaxed.

"Sasuke?" The second voice asked. "Are you awake?"

Sasuke once again attempted to open his eyes, wondering why his chest hurt so badly as he did so. His eyes met with endlessly blue eyes that he knew could only belong to one person. "Naruto? What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" The voice replied.

Sasuke's brow furrowed, why was Naruto speaking in such a strange voice? Did something happen to his throat? "I think..." As he spoke he tried desperately to remember. "You bit me, you bastard."

He felt a thrill of panic run through him as the blue eyes winced and moved further away. "I'm sorry."

Two things Sasuke noticed as Naruto moved further away. This first was, again, how tall the blonde was suddenly, and the second was a pair of yellow eyes, glaring at him from a small round face. "Have I been asleep for that long?" Sasuke asked as it finally dawned on him WHY the blonde was so ridiculously tall.

"A couple days." The blonde replied, the sound in his voice implied that it had felt like longer.

"Then why-" Sasuke trailed off. How was he supposed to put this? Why was Naruto suddenly taller than Kakashi? Why had his hair grown almost as long as Tenmar's? WHY was he supporting a 5 o'clock shadow? Where the hell'd that baby come from? No, wait, that last one was an entirely different question.

"You should rest." Naruto said suddenly in a tone that left no room for argument. "I'll stay with you until you wake up again."

Sasuke obediently closed his eyes, wondering what made the dobe think that he'd actually be able to fall asleep in a situation like... this...

Naruto slumped into a chair as Sasuke's breathing evened out. He glanced between Sasuke and the room's other sleeping occupant and sighed. What was he supposed to say to Sasuke now? What was he supposed to do? The blonde tucked a strand of long red hair behind the other sleeper's ear and sighed again. What the hell was he supposed to do?

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Psychic King: OK, once again, as always, I apologize if this chapter seemed to take too long. Now that the battle's over I feel a lot better about the prospect of writing more, though. happy sigh I also hope that the chapter still makes sense at the end, I saw an ending in sight and decided to push onwards, even though I am very tired. I wanted to get this baby posted ASAP. Don't worry next chapter will have more information on what happened in the battle and why Mina is unconscious and maybe even if anyone else got hurt! But that's not something I plan on worrying about right now, As soon as this is up I get to SLEEP!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As always happy, sad and angry remarks can be sent to my e-mail; or you can use the handy review function on I'm off to la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la land. BIG GRIN


	24. Embrace of the Begining of the End 2

Psychic King: :::laughing maniacally::: It's done! It's done! Finally, I finished it!!!!!!!

Sakura: :::Looking up at the crazed author::: Okay.... :::glancing at Naruto and Sasuke::: You know... She's been acing really weird recently...

Sasuke: How can you tell?

Sakura: Well... For starters, she hasn't updated in a long time, but she's been writing like crazy. For another she's started talking to herself.

Everyone: :::turns to watch as Psychic King mutters to her self:::

Psychic King: :::Rubbing hand together::: Heh heh heh... I decide who lives or dies...

Naruto: Seems pretty normal to me...

Psychic King: :::Wrapping an arm around Naruto::: That's right, I'm just a little stressed. But it's OK, because I've just written the best chapter ever of Embrace of solitude... You believe me, right? :::Glancing at Sasuke::: Right?

Naruto and Sasuke: :::backing away::: Of course...

Psychic King: That's good... Good... Because I could handle it if I had to write that chapter again, I'm never writing that chapter again ever... I don't think the voices will let me...

Sasuke and Naruto: :::still backing away, almost off screen::: Right... Well, we're sure it's great, so just... Relax a bit... :::Dash desperately the rest of the way off screen and out of Psychic King's field of vision:::

Psychic King: :::Glancing at Sakura::: Hell, yeah! You see, it's not necessary to use a lot of make up or special effects, you just gotta use your imagination.

Sakura: :::Sighing:::: Fine, you win. You CAN scare those two.

Psychic King: And my reward??

Sakura: Fine. I won't make any negative comments about chapter 24. But it's not MY fault if it ends up sucking.

Psychic King: Tsk, tsk... That almost sounded like a negative comment. Oh well. :::Turning to readers::: Well, it finally happened, chapter 24 is done. Thank God! For those of you that read the top part and not the bottom for whatever reason PLESE READ the author's comments AT THE END!!! I have a question on how to proceed and I'd like some feedback! But, for now, please just enjoy chapter 24 of Embrace of Solitude! And for those of you that have been waiting patiently for this chapter, I hope it was worth the wait. Well, even for those of you that haven't been waiting so patiently... :::Grin:::

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Embrace of Solitude

Chapter 24

As soon as Sasuke fell into sleep he began to dream. In his dream he traveled across the ocean. When he reached the land he walked through forest and over mountains and into a desert until he reached a tower. The tower was reached high into the sky, far into the clouds and shone as if it were made completely of glass. There were no doors. Sasuke walked around the tower and could find no entrance, there was no door; yet he felt himself compelled to enter. Many days passed as he tried over and over again to find the tower's entrance, finally on the tenth day, hot, exhausted and dehydrated Sasuke collapsed.

He lay on his back, panting as he stared at the point that the tower disappeared into the sky. As if by chance he saw a bird flying high above him. Even from this distance it was obvious to him that this bird was no average creature; he wondered briefly how much taller it was than he. He watched as the bird circled the tower, three times, on the third it disappeared. Sasuke's eyes widened as he sat up, waiting for the bird to reappear, but there was no sign of it. For the first time in days he opened his mouth and let a long, hysterical scream escape his lips. Allowing his body to crumple to the ground in a heap a low chuckle escaped his lips. "Come back here, damn bird!" He screamed, still laughing. "At least if you eat me, if only for an instant, I'll be inside."

As if it had been waiting for this the bird swept from the tower, swooped down and in a quick, fluid motion grabbed Sasuke in its talons. Pain tore through Sasuke's shoulder as its claws tore through his chest. The pain was so real, so familiar, but he couldn't remember where he knew it from. He just knew, with a euphoric sense of finality, that he was finally going to enter the tower.

Higher and higher the bird carried him, until it was hard for him to breathe when, as suddenly as he'd been picked up he was deposited on a cool marble floor. The bird perched next to him and he stared at it and noticed that it was beginning to change. The feathers flittered away, disappearing as they reached the floor; Sasuke's hand reached up and he grabbed one before it could completely fall, it remained solid in his hand.

Glancing up, Sasuke noticed that where the bird had been a man was now standing. Large, prominent nose mounted below two of the most attentive, piercing black eyes Sasuke'd ever seen. Perhaps even more striking than the man's eyes was his hair, handing in multicolored strands of blonde, red, brown and black around his golden face. If Sasuke were familiar with the term Greek god he most certainly would have used it to describe this man. The man moved closer to him, he seemed to be sniffing. Eventually his face broke into a huge smile, "I knew it! That scent..."

For some reason the man's smile, his reaction filled Sasuke with a sense of contentment. The man approved of some part of his existence. That thought in mind Sasuke collapsed to the floor in a heap.

A pair of strong hands was around him in an instant. "None of that, now. You can't rest here."

Sasuke stared at the man's face. There as something comforting about that smile, something familiar, if he could just grasp what it was...

"His scent is all over you." The man continued, walking towards a spiral staircase. "Although what that means considering that you're not really here is..." He trailed off, looking at the confused expression on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke noticed how musical the man's voice was, like every word was a song. He wasn't sure what the man meant by him not really being there. He felt like he was there. His shoulder still throbbed from where the bird's talons pierced through him. He realized that now that he was in the tower he had very little care for what was there. Perhaps he needed to enter simply to meet this man? "Where is this?" Sasuke's voice came out in a rasp whisper.

"You are in the tower of Tagen-sama. It is rare that any outsider should come visit, but Tagen-sama has been calling for the last twelve years. It was only a mater of time before someone should reply, although you are none of the people he's been expecting..."

"Who has he been calling?" Sasuke asked, sure that he should know. The answer was just outside of his grasp.

"Our brothers, their families. For you to smell so strongly of my older brother... You must be very important to him." The man grinned after a moment and added, "And he must be very important to you for you to hear Tagen-sama's call."

Questions rose in Sasuke's head as the man carrying him spoke. Who was this special person? Why couldn't he remember? In what way was this not real? But these questions fled his mind as the man reached the end of the spiral staircase and opened the door that was there. A room fit for a king greeted his eyes; treasure pilled high along each wall, in the center of the room was a sitting area of sorts, pillows littered across the floor, spread out luxuriously across those pillows were the most beautiful (and scantly clad) women Sasuke had ever seen. Standing with his back to the door was a man.

The man was what drew Sasuke's attention more than anything. Even only looking at his back Sasuke could see the power this man had just from the way he held himself. He had long, soft black hair tied loosely in the back. He was wearing large baggy black pants, but nothing covered his upper body. His pale skin shone like moonlight, even during a day as bright as this was. He turned his head slightly and Sasuke's eyes widened. The man man's face was amazing; small, delicate features compiled together in such a way that it could only be called perfection. Thin, but mysterious lips, a nose that was big enough to be useful but small enough to be beautiful, a few stray strands of hair flowed loosely across his face, serious purple eyes glanced at him curiously. Sasuke knew immediately that it was this man that he had come to meet. It was for this moment that Sasuke needed to enter the tower.

"What have we here?" A voice that could only be described as commanding issued from the red lips; a slender pale hand reached out to grab Sasuke's face.

Sasuke struggled as the black eyes pierced into his soul. He could almost feel the presence of another in his mind and unbidden thoughts and memories of the last twelve years, of Naruto, flashed through his consciousness. The man was barely touching his face and yet Sasuke could not break from his grasp. When the memory of waking in the hospital to see an adult Naruto and baby Kentaar finally flashed through his mind the man released him. Sasuke fell to the floor, shaking slightly.

"I see." The man said, turning away from Sasuke. "My younger brother, Naruto, you will deliver a message to him for me."

:::::Break:::::

Sasuke awoke with a start. He'd just had the strangest dream about a man with black hair and purple eyes. The man was very commanding and had insisted that Sasuke deliver a message to Naruto. And then he had laid his hands on Sasuke and... Sasuke shook his head. He was still confused.

The first thing Sasuke noticed as he began to regain his bearings was that he was no longer in the hospital, but instead in his own bedroom. How could he have slept through being moved? After all, he was in a great deal of pain whenever he- Sasuke's eyes widened as he tore off his shirt, his wound from Naruto's bite was gone? He ran his hands over his chest, not even a scar remained, and there was a giant golden feather clutched in his hand... Was it all a dream?

"Finally awake, huh?" A familiar voice spoke softly next to him.

Sasuke turned his head to see a very adult looking Naruto-but Naruto all the same- leaning forward in a chair set up next to his bed. It was, perhaps, the most welcome sight he'd ever seen. "Naruto!" Without thinking he launched himself from his bed to land on the blonde man, wrapping his arms around his massive chest.

Sasuke heard Naruto's surprised intake of breath and then a strong pair of arms was wrapped around him. For a brief moment Sasuke enjoyed the way it felt breath Naruto's scent, to absorb Naruto's warmth, to hear the pounding of Naruto's heart. The moment passed quickly, however, and Sasuke immediately pushed the large man away, scowl already forming on his lips. "You're still pretending to be an adult?"

A small smile played across Naruto's tanned face and Sasuke had to admit that he'd aged well, if not freakishly fast. His body was massive, larger than Tenmar's. he even looked older than Tenmar, but not by much. His nose and mouth seemed to fit more naturally than they had on the awkward twelve-year old. The whisker scars across his cheeks that had once made him look like a rebellious cat child now made him look like a hardened fighter. His blonde hair now stood a little longer, so that the spikes closest to his face drooped down and hung slightly into his eyes. Sasuke noticed that he was not wearing his forehead protector.

"No," Naruto replied after a quiet moment, blue eyes turning serious. "I've stopped pretending to be a child." He let Sasuke mull over those words as he yawned, stretching his long arms over his head. "How do you feel? You terrified me, waking up from your coma only to immediately fall into a deep sleep for the next ten days..."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have let me fall back to sleep so quickly, dobe." Sasuke retorted, still scowling. "Where's your...?" He pushed his middle finger against Naruto's bare forehead.

Naruto looked away, shrugging. "I guess I lost it, bastard."

Sasuke smirked, and then realization hit him. The last time he'd seen Naruto there'd been a baby Kentaar in his arms, where was that child now? How was everyone? Did anyone die? He settled back into his bed so that he was sitting up, facing Naruto. "How is everyone?"

"Everyone?" Naruto repeated, sad smile crossing his features. "There were 37 casualties on our side, many were left injured and a few have not been accounted for yet, but I hear it looks hopeful. There was major property damage everywhere there was fighting, many have been left homeless and rebuilding is proceeding slowly. We moved you back to your house because the hospitals are all full. Well, that and the fact that the hospital was no longer willing to look after 'my kind.'" Naruto offered Sasuke a sad smile. "I'm afraid that you've been grouped with me by association... I'm not sure what happened to your injuries." Naruto ended the sentence, leaving an unspoken question hanging in the air.

Sasuke sat in shocked silence, taking in what he just heard. 37 people died? For what? A battle against a few wolves? Or had there been enemy ninja as well? The night blurred together in his mind. He could tell that Naruto was blaming himself for what happened; he could see the guilt reflected in his blue eyes. "My injuries?" Sasuke repeated dazedly, trying desperately to keep his mind on topic. "Um... OH! My injuries." He shook his head, he wasn't ready to tell Naruto about his time in the tower, he didn't want to pass his message along to the blonde; knowing that once Naruto knew he was likely to leave. "Someone took care of them."

The blue eyes narrowed, Sasuke'd been asleep for almost all of the last fifteen days, most of which Naruto himself had been watching over him for. Who could have 'taken care' of his injuries without Naruto noticing? "I see."

"How's... everyone else? Sakura? Tenmar? Mina?"

Naruto leaned back in his chair, moving his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka... They'll all be fine. Bruises, scratches, nothing big. Uzu and Ganten are in the forest, looking for the remnants of Kentaar's men and taking care of Moab. Tenmar is here, helping me take care of..." Naruto covered his eyes with his hand, a gesture that depicted more exhaustion and grief that he intended. "Mina. Mina still hasn't woken up."

"Her wounds are that serious?" Sasuke whispered eyes downcast. He felt slightly guilty that Naruto was with him rather than taking care of the girl. Even if she was still out of it, he was certain that Naruto's presence would comfort her.

The blond shook his head, bringing his eyes back to Sasuke's face. "No, they've already started healing. We don't know why she hasn't woken up yet, but a few days ago she started screaming at random intervals. Until then we had the two of you in the same room. We had to move her to the far side of the house. Tenmar and I take turns watching over her and watching over you. Sakura and Iruka stop by for a few hours each day. Make sure we get something to eat."

That explained some of his exhaustion. He probably wasn't sleeping, trying to be there to take care of both of them. "What about... Kentaar...?" He asked hesitantly.

Naruto's blue eyes hardened, he fixed Sasuke with a serious glare. "Kentaar is dead."

"Ah." He considered this for a moment. "It's just... When I woke up there was a baby with you."

Naruto shook his head unwavering in his insistence. "Kentaar is dead. That was Moab."

Sasuke shrugged. Whoever this Moab was, he looked a lot like a baby Kentaar, but it was obvious that Naruto didn't appreciate being questioned on this topic. Anyway, he got the feeling that Naruto had something else he wanted to tell him. "And?"

Naruto finally broke his gaze and Sasuke's scowl deepened. So there was something else. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about that right-" His words cut off as the door to Sasuke's room opened tentatively.

"Father..." Tenmar's voice called, head peeking slowly into the room. "Sakura-chan's he-" His eyes landed on Sasuke. "Sasuke-sama," he smiled, "You're awake."

"Who's with Mina?" Naruto asked, eyes swiveling to his oldest son.

"Sakura-chan is sitting with her right now." Tenmar replied, smile dropping from his face slowly. He stepped into the room as Naruto rose.

"I'll just go check on her." Naruto replied, walking out of the room. The door closed with a small slam, leaving Sasuke to turn surprised eyes to Tenmar.

"Is he OK?"

Tenmar shook his head, moving towards the chair Naruto had inhabited. "He hasn't slept in over ten days, even for Father there has to be a limit..."

Sasuke looked at Tenmar as the man sat down; he looked even more exhausted than Naruto. There were also some changes to the man's appearance. Most notably was his hair. "What happened to your hair?"

"Ah..." Tenmar ran a hand sadly through his hair to grab onto the now short nub that was his pony tail. The hair that had only flowed luxuriously down his back in a thick ponytail was now no more than a small, thin wisp. "There was a fire near the end of the battle and..." Tenmar shrugged. He looked so disappointed.

Privately Sasuke thought it looked better this way. Hair tied tightly against his head, a small strand just barely too short to fit in the ponytail curled around his face; it made him look mature, but he couldn't bring himself to tell him that. Instead he stared at the blonde quietly.

Tenmar shifted under Sasuke's glare. Even barely awake for an hour the boy was already glaring. But it was good to see him awake. "I'm so glad you woke up... I was worried what we would do if you didn't wake up by tomorrow."

"What's so special about tomorrow?" Sasuke demanded

Tenmar's eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth. "Father didn't tell you?" When Sasuke's glare darkened, Tenmar stood, inching towards the door. "Well, it's not really my place... If you'll excuse me, I should go." He slipped outside quickly, leaving Sasuke to stare wide eyed at the suddenly closed door. That reaction was almost out of character for Tenmar. There was definitely something going on. Sasuke thoughtlessly twirled the feather in his hand.

:::::Break:::::

Uzu rolled his eyes as he picked through the woods with his younger brother. They'd been searching for days, most of the remnants of Kentaar's army were dead, the wolves had scattered without their ringleader. They'd found only one person, a boy with broken arms and legs, Uzu was pretty sure that had been Ganten's handiwork as his brother had found the boy immediately after they were sent out. They'd left him at their camp; he hadn't put up any kind of resistance, and anyway, his legs were broken. He wasn't going on a killing spree anytime soon. Ha name was Rin and Uzu was beginning to suspect that there was something going on between Ganten and the boy...

"That's it!" Ganten called, waving to his brother. The baby strapped to his back squirmed and let out a light hearted shriek as Ganten bounded towards Uzu. "I think that's enough for today. We've covered every part of this forest, there's nothing here."

"Yeah..." Uzu replied, making a disgusted face at the baby as his brother turned towards camp. "Just gotta face facts; Ninja completely annihilate an enemy."

"You can say that again. I'll be glad when we head out tomorrow." As if in agreement the baby pounded his tiny fists against Ganten's back.

"How can you stand that brat?" Uzu asked for almost the millionth time since they'd been stuck taking care of it. He found it rather ironic that he, the one fox child that went berserk whenever faced with Kentaar, was forced to take care of this child that, for all intents and purposes, actually was Kentaar. Or at least, as close to being Kentaar as someone could get. To be honest, the only reason he didn't try to drown the thing was because he wasn't sure what it was.

After accidentally biting into Sasuke Naruto had insisted that the rest of his family, along with the ninja that were fighting along side them, retreat. They'd done so and watched as Naruto, in adult human form, walked strait towards Kentaar. When it looked like Kentaar swallowed Naruto they'd reacted immediately. Tenmar was fastest, racing towards the giant wolf screaming bloody murder; that was why Tenmar was the only person who was really affected by the explosion that suddenly happened. When Naruto walked out of the debris holding that baby... Uzu had jumped up to finish the job, assuming that it was Kentaar.

It was his father's insistence that the baby was not Kentaar, but instead named Moab that kept him from completely destroying the child. He didn't know any Moab, but he couldn't bring himself to kill a child that was possibly innocent. But Moab sure was one ugly baby-he looked just like a mini Kentaar from the tuffs of grey hair forming on his head to the glowing yellow eyes that gleamed above his button nose.

When they reached camp Ganten thrust the baby in Uzu's arms, wandering off to look after Rin. Uzu grimaced, raising Moab to eye level. The baby giggled, waving his hands about until they smacked Uzu's cheeks lightly. "Oi." Uzu said to the infant, throwing it under one arm as he walked towards the center of their mini camp. "Don't smack me you damn brat."

The baby squealed kicking his legs lightly as Uzu carried him. "I'm gonna be real happy when Daddy and Tenmar join us tomorrow." Uzu called, using his free hand to start setting up a fire. "Then maybe Tenmar can take care of this brat."

"You have nothing to complain about." Ganten said, glaring up from his position next to Rin. He was in the process of checking the other boy's bandages. "I've done most of the work taking care of Moab."

"That's only 'cause you're afraid that I'll toss him in the river or something." Uzu grumbled.

"Regardless, the only brat I see around here has red hair and a big mouth."

"Oh?" Uzu glared, shifting the baby to his other arm, "Them's fighting words, little brother."

Both Ganten and Rin smiled as they watching him place on hand on his hip. Under the other arm, being carried like a sac of potatoes was a wildly happy baby, waving its arms and squealing lightly. "I think you're little Moab's favorite person."

Uzu glanced down at the happy baby and sighed, annoyance taking over his initial anger. "Oi, brat. Don't you dare enjoy this."

Ganten stood from his position next to Rin, dusting off his hands and holding up a couple rabbits they had caught earlier. "Why don't you and Moab go take a bath while I get started on dinner?"

"I'd rather-" Uzu began, but one look at his younger brother he closed his mouth, stomping obediently towards the nearby river with the baby.

Ganten grinned as his brother stormed away, muttering under his breath. The thought that Uzu might drown the baby crossed his mind, but he wasn't too worried.

"He's not gonna kill the baby." Rin said quietly, eyes following Ganten. Ganten had propped him up in a sitting position against a tree. Technically he was almost well enough to take care of himself now, not without sever difficulties, but it was possible. He knew for a fact that Uzu and Ganten had no clue how quickly a 'normal' human healed, and until they suspected otherwise Rin was taking this time to get used to being surrounded by people like them.

They fought almost constantly, but Rin had been surprised to find that it was all good natured bantering. Despite their words, they had a relationship that was almost ridiculously close for brothers. Not even Rin and his own brother had been that close, and until he met Ganten he had thought his family was as close as they could be. Now he was starting to wonder how much strain rather than good his family's natural abilities of mind reading had actually put on them.

"I just wish that he'd try to accept it..." Ganten sighed, peeling the fur off the rabbits.

Rin laughed, "He's more accepting of it that he's wiling to admit even to himself." He fell silent as he watched Ganten move about, working on getting their meal ready. As usual, Ganten's mind was working on several things at once. Rin never met someone able to work at such a perfect level on so many different things. Besides cooking, he was worrying about his father, oldest brother, sister and Sasuke, thdark haired boy he'd fought earlier. On top of that he was working on the best way for seven people to travel, eight if this Sasuke ended up tagging along, while three of them were, most likely, going to be unable to move. Seven people... That number included Rin, himself and the baby Kentaar reincarnation...

Rin let his attention waver off Ganten's thoughts as they shifted to probabilities on the direction they would travel. The white haired boy would be entertained for at least a half hour as he weighed personality attributes of his family together to decided who would choose ultimately the direction they went. In the back of his mind he could faintly hear Uzu and the baby's thoughts as they bathed. It was amazing how simple, how pure Moab's thoughts were in contrast to what Kentaar's had been-not that Rin had spent a lot of time in the wolf man's thoughts when he could avoid it.

Kentaar had been both a blessing and a curse in Rin's life. He would never forget the day he met the man, it was hard to forget the day that your whole family was killed as you fled helplessly into the darkness of the woods. Kentaar had been the one to find him, silver hair shining in the moonlight, yellow eyes glowing mysteriously... He'd known as soon as he met him that it was Kentaar and his companions that had told the town his who his family was; what they were. But, as the large man reached a hairy arm down to Rin, the first offer of friendship he'd received all day, Rin found himself forgiving the man. No, it was not Kentaar's fault that humans could not be trusted.

From that point on Rin followed Kentaar, not because he had nowhere else to go, nor because he felt any affiliation with the man but because Kentaar promised him the one thing he craved; power. The power to avenge his family, the power to stand on his own feet, the power to live; the only thing Kentaar asked for in return was his soul. Kentaar had held true to his word; the first people that Rin slaughtered were those in the town that destroyed his family. Killing them had filled Rin with a sense of satisfaction, the knowledge that the act couldn't bring his family back seemed insignificant next to the way he felt. After that he had stayed with Kentaar if only because Kentaar allowed him to kill anyone that Rin found unsatisfactory. It was a working relationship, Rin didn't need an excuse to kill even Kentaar's closest of follower and in return he used his gift as a weapon for the yellow eyed demon.

He had never once questioned their relationship. Kentaar might have been an evil, insane bastard, but at least never pretended to be anything else. It wasn't until this whole nonsense with Naruto, with the children, that Rin even bothered to question Kentaar's process. Rin never dwelled on his past decision, he wasn't the kind to look back after he'd made a decision, instead he stood with his choices until the very end. It was the same with following Kentaar; even if he'd chosen an evil man, an insane man, even if he'd committed unspeakable atrocities, even if it meant that he would never be able to join his family in heaven when he died; Rin was prepared to face his fate. When Ganten found him three days ago and dragged him to the campsite, when he introduced Rin as an 'important friend' to Uzu, when he started taking care of him... Rin knew that there had to be something wrong with the cosmic balance. Someone like him didn't deserve the happiness he was currently feeling.

Ganten glanced up from his position crouching over the fire to stare at Rin. Usually the brown haired boy watched Ganten attentively, making occasional comments on his thoughts, whenever they were together. It seemed strange for Rin not to notice the white haired boy's attention, to now respond to the question in his mind. A small smiled toyed at the edge of Ganten's lips as the furrowed eyebrows suddenly relaxed and Rin looked innocently up at him. "Sorry, did I miss something? And stop calling me innocent."

:::::Break:::::

"Sakura-chan." Naruto called, stepping into Mina's room.

The pink haired girl rose, hands clasped in front of her chest as Naruto leaned down to place a fatherly-feeling kiss on her forehead. Sakura blushed to her roots. Over the past few days the memories of Illia were starting to fade, to feel less like a part of her, but around Naruto she still felt embarrassed, flustered, even attracted. It didn't help that Naruto as an adult was a lot less awkward than Naruto as a child making him suddenly appear very handsome. "H-hello, Naruto-san."

Naruto barely noticed Sakura's discomfort, immediately turning his attention to the girl stretched out on the bed. "She's still sleeping..."

"Have you figured out what you're gonna do if she doesn't wake up before... you know." Sakura asked tentatively.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know. It's not so much that I'm worried about her surviving a long trip, but... I don't even know where we're gonna go."

"I wish you wouldn't go far." Sakura said instantly, jumping to her feet. "I mean, it won't be long before people remember what you did for us, and Hokage-sama is on your side! They can't enforce a FIVE year-" Her words cut off as Naruto turned to her, shaking his head.

"No, they can, and they will. Or have you forgotten that this isn't the first time that my family's been at the root of Konoha's destruction? Just because we took care of the problem this time doesn't mean that it won't happen again. I still have two brother's and God knows how many nieces and nephews running around out there. It's better that we go."

"But FIVE years!" Sakura argued, stomping a foot on the ground to emphasize her point. "That's way too long! Konoha will be rebuilt by the end of the month!"

"Five years is generous..." Naruto pointed out patiently, rubbing a hand over his weary eyes. This wasn't the first time that he and Sakura had had this conversation and he was sure that it wouldn't be the last time despite his shortening time.

Their conversation was interrupted but the sudden arrival of Tenmar into the room. He was panting and holding a hand over his heart as if he was afraid that it would pound strait out of his chest. After a moment he raised accusatory eyes towards Naruto. "Father! Don't tell me that you haven't told Sasuke-sama yet!"

Sakura glanced between the blonde men, eyes widening. "Sasuke's awake?"

"Yes, Sasuke's awake and no. I haven't told him. He only just woke up; I didn't want to burden him with it right away."

"Well, he damn well suspects that something's going on!" Tenmar almost hollered, "I thought he was going to glare little hate holes into my soul..."

Sakura sighed, sinking back into the chair she had been sitting in. In a normal situation she would have rushed off to see Sasuke, if only because they were teammates and she was worried about him, but right now, with him suspecting... "What were you gonna do?" She demanded, joining Tenmar to glare at Naruto. "Wait until tomorrow and suddenly grab your travel bag and say, 'Well, it's been fun, but we've been asked to leave for a few YEARS, maybe I'll see you around?'" She immediately covered her mouth as the words escaped her. She was having more and more trouble holding her tong lately, since the incident with Illia; but she was well aware that the last thing Naruto needed right now was her sarcasm.

Naruto purposefully ignored both of them, wrapping all of his attention into Mina, who looked almost peaceful, if it weren't for the heavy bandaging over the eye that had been taken out during the battle and the countless scars that now covered her face. The fact of the matter was he just didn't know how to tell Sasuke that they were leaving. Part of him wanted to take the dark haired boy with him, but logic told him that was not a good idea and his conscious told him that he needed to let Sasuke grow up before... Naruto shook his head, now wasn't the time for such thoughts. "I'll tell him in my own way."

"Tell me what, dobe?" The room's occupants when deathly silent as they turned their heads towards the door, which was now propped open; Sasuke was leaning against the frame, arms crossed, scowl imbedded across his face.

:::::Break:::::

Psychic King: OK, to save all bullshit for later for those of you that don't usually read this but have made an exception because ya love me... I want to know how you want me to proceed. The main story is all but done; one well ordered chapter at the end could sum up the rest quite nicely with a small few year time lapse. OR I could star book two if people are eager to see Naruto's journey to the East to find his brothers. It al depends on how much detail you want. I have a few special plans for Naruto's children and for Rin, but nothing much for the Naruto cast besides for Naruto himself (assuming that makes sense)... And maybe one or two other, SIDE characters. So what do you people what??? A nice wrap up or something that leaves room for book two, whatever that will be???????

Send all requests to either my e-mail (my name, Psychic underscore king at hotmail dot com; for some reason it won't let me just spell it out... Oh well...), OR use the handy review function on the story page thing to voice your opinion!

I'd really appreciate it!!!!! Thanks!!

-Psychic King

Sasuke: :::walking up and grabbing Psychic King's collar::: Rewrite it.

Psychic King: ::Waving at the readers::: Well, until next time... :::Attempting to break Sasuke's hold and run away:::

Sasuke: :::holding tight::: REWRITE IT!


	25. Embrace of the End

Psychic King: Well, here we are at the long awaited last chapter. I ain't gonna talk a lot here, just want everyone to know that Naruto's not mine and the only characters that I claim as my own are the ones I made up myself. If you don't know who those are should you really be reading Naruto fanfiction? Oh well, anyway, for those of you that DON'T read my end notes there'll be a brief epilogue chapter following this and there WILL BE a BOOK TWO. Those of you who wish to may now rejoice. Those of you who wish I'd quite writing this crap and die may NOT read book two (not that I can really stop you, but ::sticks out tongue::). Anyway, so I can't call myself a liar, I now present to you the LONGEST and FINAL chapter of embrace of solitude to date. Enjoy!

Embrace of Solitude

Chapter 25

Sasuke sat for a stunned moment as Tenmar walked out of his room. If he was to believe Naruto, while he was asleep he hadn't been left for even a moment by himself; either Tenmar or Naruto was almost constantly with him. How was it that now that he was actually awake and still wondering what was going on no one was willing to talk to him? Sasuke shook his head, in his mind that implied only one thing; there was something that happened while he was asleep that was worth hiding.

Pulling the covers from his body, Sasuke placed a tentative foot on the ground. He was probably going to have trouble walking properly right away, but he was currently wrapped in a war between his curiosity and his patience and he was not known for the latter. To his surprise, as soon as Sasuke's feet touched the ground he was able to walk as if he hadn't been laid up for going on two weeks. He had been expecting at least some vertigo.

For the first time since his initial awakening Sasuke looked down at the feather still clutched in his hand. It looked exactly like the one he'd picked up in his dream, the one shed by the bird man. But then, how could he carry something back to his room that he picked up in a dream? Then again... he glanced at the unblemished area of his chest that should still be recovering from the bite he'd received from Naruto. A sardonic smile formed on his lips; if his body could magically heal over night because of a dream than perhaps anything was possible.

With a determined grunt Sasuke returned his attention to Naruto and whatever it was that the blonde idiot was apparently trying to hide from him. He heard Sakura's voice, forcibly deep, most likely in a bad attempt of an impersonation of someone or another, "'...for a few YEARS, maybe I'll see you around?'"

Sasuke reached the doorway as Naruto replied, "I'll tell him in my own way."

He leaned against the frame, noticing the way that both Sakura and Tenmar had their eyes focused warily on Naruto, while his own were staring determinately towards the bed. Sasuke could tell from the look on his face that he was simply trying to avoid looking at the two. The words 'a few years' echoed through Sasuke's head as he looked at the three and so, with a scowl on his face he asked, "Tell me what, dobe?"

He could tell from the way that Sakura and Tenmar jumped in unison, spinning to stare at him with wide eyes and, and particularly from the way that Naruto's shoulders hunched suddenly and an almost guilty face turned to greet him that he'd heard something that wasn't intended for him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he glared into Naruto's face. He was vaguely aware of Sakura walking up to him, heard her speaking to him, but he didn't even spare her a glance.

"Sasuke?" Sakura repeated, realizing finally that the boy was not paying attention. With a sigh she turned her focus back to Naruto, whose eyes were locked on Sasuke. "Alright, if anyone cares, I'm gonna go get your dinner started." Neither Naruto nor Sasuke spared her a glance. With a second long-suffering sigh Sakura grabbed Tenmar by the collar, muttering to him as she stormed towards the kitchen, "Come on, let's leave them alone."

Tenmar allowed Sakura to drag him out of the room, wondering if his father was going to be OK if left alone with the dark haired boy. Who knew what Sasuke was bound to do once he realized that Naruto was planning on leaving him? "Do you think that Father will be alright?"

"Yes. Probably. I don't know." Sakura paused, giving Tenmar a compassionate smile. "Look, despite everything and as much as it bugs me to say it, Sasuke really cares about that blonde idio-er, I mean, your father and vice versa. That doesn't mean that one or both of them won't resort to beating the other up, but they won't kill each other, and, unless Naruto really sticks his foot in his mouth when he tries to explain the situation to Sasuke, Sasuke is bound to understand."

Tenmar's brow furrowed. "Have you ever known my father NOT to stick his foot in his mouth?"

That comment was followed by a loud crashing noise and Sakura turned a worried face towards the closed door that hid Sasuke and Naruto's conversation. She decided to stick to her original statement. "They'll be fine. Come on, now. I want to cook something that you guys can take with you on the road tomorrow."

Head lowered, Tenmar followed the girl. She'd become a lot more forceful and scary since she got her body back from his mother. He wasn't sure if that was due to his mother's memories still floating around in her conscious or if it had more to do with the fact that she'd completely given up on Sasuke and saw no reason to put up the cute front any longer. Whichever it was Tenmar felt a stab of pain at having to leave her, despite everything he felt like he'd grown pretty close to that girl. Of course the pain at the thought of leaving her was nothing in comparison to the heart wrenching feeling he got whenever he thought about leaving Iruka. He truly hoped that the brunette would visit before they left.

:::::BREAK:::::

"You're WHAT?" Sasuke demanded, advancing angrily towards the blonde in front of him. He was forced to step over a small table that had been turned over in his initial anger.

Naruto back pedaled as Sasuke loomed over him. Actually, the boy wasn't looming over anything as the shortest person in the room, but his size and his aura were currently in direct opposition; it FELT like Sasuke was looming over him. "We're leaving?" Naruto repeated, wondering if telling the boy had been a mistake after all.

Sasuke paused. He took a deep breath. He closed his eyes. When he reopened them, some of the intensity was gone, some of the anger calmed. "Would you care to tell me WHY you're leaving?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowing as he spoke. It wasn't working, his attempts to calm down were only good as long as he avoided thinking about the bombshell the blonde just dropped on him.

"I'd prefer not, but I don't think you're gonna give me much of a choice." Naruto grimaced as Sasuke's eyes flashed. That's what he got for being honest, wasn't it? With a defeated sigh Naruto opened his mouth and started telling Sasuke what parts of the truth he felt were necessary for the boy to know. He was beginning to think that his original plan (a letter left on the boy's bedside table with the words 'see ya in five' written in it) would have been safer, certainly less heart-wrenching. "There are various reasons why we have to leave. First off, we were asked to."

"Asked by whom exactly?" Sasuke demanded, crossing his arms and leaning back a bit. Apparently this was going to be a long explanation.

"Well, some of the elders- NOT Hokage-sama, but some of the higher-ups- feel that my family has caused enough trouble for the time being. The feeling seems to have permeated through Konoha, so..." Naruto shrugged.

Eyes narrowing further, Sasuke replied, "You never cared that no one wanted you around before."

Naruto grimaced in response. "Hey! A few idiots didn't want me around, so what? The important people like Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Hokage-sama, the ramen noodle shop owner, Sakura-chan and apparently YOU wanted me around." He replied, then shut his mouth, thinking that his task of explaining to Sasuke why he had to go would have been easier if he hadn't just reminded Sasuke of how many people wanted him to stay. Scratching his cheek he continued, "Anyway, that's not the only reason. There's also my fam-" His words were cut short by a sudden low gurgling sound coming from the bed behind them.

Sasuke looked beyond Naruto to the bed behind him, noticing an immediate change in the atmosphere of the room; Naruto looked suddenly drawn, concerned and... old. On top of the bed, as if in a deep sleep, lay Mina. The small parts of her skin that were visible were covered in scars; a large bandage was fastened tightly over her right eye. The gurgling noises became a whimpering which quickly transferred to screams. The screams began to intensify and Sasuke watched as Mina's body went into an almost seizure like fit. Her hand rose from her side and, as if possessed by an evil spirit, began clawing away at her skin.

Naruto acted quickly, grabbing each of the girl's hands with his own and holding them down. Her body shook as the screams grew louder, Sasuke could see her struggling against Naruto's grip. The only visible bandage on her body, the one covering her eye, began to slip and Sasuke felt a brief moment of repulsion as it fell away to reveal an empty eye socket. The moment passed quickly, however, as the girl's screams reached even higher peaks and her legs began kicking and flailing. One knee came into sharp contact with Naruto's back and he grunted as he held the girl's arms down.

Without thinking Sasuke moved to grab onto Mina's legs, throwing his body over them and using his entire torso and the whole of his weight to keep them in place. As suddenly as the screaming began it subsided. Uncertain what to do, Sasuke waited until Naruto let go of the girl's arms to release her himself. He stared at the blonde man next to him in concern as Naruto sunk down to a sitting position next to the bed. He suddenly looked more like a father than anything else; old, tired, worried. "Does she... do that often?"

"A few times a day." Naruto replied, covering his eyes with his large hand. "I don't know what to do to help her."

The door to the room burst open, Tenmar came dashing in. "I heard Mina- is everything OK?"

Naruto looked up, smiling slightly at his son; a sad, humorless smile. "As OK as it can be. She just had a small fit; she should be quiet for a while now." After a moment he added, "Has Sakura-chan left yet?"

Tenmar shook his head. "No, she's almost done cooking, though. I think she wanted to talk to you before she left."

"Right." Naruto replied, standing and heading out of the room, looking back he added, "Tenmar, do you mind sitting with Mina for a while? I have a few things to do before tomorrow."

"Of course, Father!" Tenmar called, eyes shining earnestly as his father's figure disappeared down the hallway.

Sasuke stared at Tenmar for a long moment, wondering if he'd always been so eager and laid-back. He almost looked like a puppy watching happily as his master left him in charge of guarding the house. Of course, Tenmar was at least ¼ fox, from Naruto, right? At least half human, from Illia... What was the other ¼?

Tenmar turned a nervous smile towards his father's love, wondering why the boy was glaring hate daggers at him. Did Sasuke blame him for their leaving? He watched the boy's gaze darken as he glanced down the hall that Naruto had just disappeared down. Sasuke thrust his hands deep into his pockets, sparing a quick nod to Tenmar as he stormed quickly down the hallway towards the kitchen. Tenmar's return nod was witnessed only by the boy's back. With a slightly relieved sigh Tenmar reached down and picked up Mina's bedside table that apparently was knocked over somehow. After a moment he grabbed Mina's hair brush from the floor and began gently stroking it through her long hair, wondering what the next five years would bring to his family.

:::::BREAK:::::

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto sang in an almost overly jovial tone as he bounded into the kitchen.

The pink haired girl looked up from her cooking effort with some mixture of happiness and annoyance on her face. "Hai, Naruto-kun. I'm almost done with the cooking, but I wanted to make a little extra so you have something decent for your first night on the road."

Naruto grimaced, glancing at the size of the pot she was stewing over. Judging from it's size and relative soupy look, she'd probably made enough that they could eat it EVERY night they were on the road. How were they supposed to carry a giant pot of soupy substance through the wild? Noticing that Sakura was staring expectantly at him, pride glowing from her face he quickly hid his reluctance. "Awesome, Sakura-chan! It smells so good!"

Sakura awarded Naruto's words with a huge smile and a slight blush. She forced her eyes to focus down at her cooking as the blonde's face broke into one of his gigantic smiles. As an adult he was just too damn attractive for his own good. "You won't leave tomorrow without... saying goodbye, will you?" She asked, suddenly, turning large pleading eyes towards him.

Naruto took an awkward step backwards as her green eyes began filling slightly with tears. As a matter of fact, he hadn't been planning on sticking around to say goodbye to anybody. He'd been planning on waiting for Sasuke to go to sleep and grab Tenmar and Mina a run. He held up his hands in a defensive manner as Sakura's lips curved down to a pout. "Heh... Of course I'll say goodbye to you before I leave!" He was aware that his tone was less than convincing, but he attempted to put a reassuring grin on his face; inwardly he was sighing. Now that he said he would say goodbye he really wouldn't be able to leave until he did. But how could he say no to that pleading face; a face that looked so much like that of his daughter?

Sakura's face immediately broken into a large smile; she figured he would be weak to her tears, considering her resemblance to both Illia and Mina. "Great! Dinner's about ready, if you want to get a plate out for yourself, Tenmar and Sasuke!" She said in a completely cheerful tone.

Naruto's arms dropped to his side as realization hit him. She'd set him up. She knew he was weak to her tears and she purposely used them to get what she wanted. Was she always been so manipulating, so cruel, so EVIL? With a sigh he reached into the cupboard, pulling out one bowl and placing it before the girl. "This is for Tenmar." He said in a slightly defeated tone. "I have some things to do before tomorrow, I'll eat later. Do me a favor and take the bowl up to him before you go?"

Surprise stopped Sakura from being initially angry. She watched a defeated looking Naruto open the servant's entrance to the kitchen and step out. "H-hai. What about Sasu-" Sakura's words cut short as the dark haired boy stormed through the kitchen to follow Naruto out of the house. He caught up to Naruto on the path, half way to the road and fell into pace next to the blonde. A small smile crept across Sakura's face as she watched the two walk quietly next to each other. They made quite a picture standing side by side like that; a tall well-built blonde glancing nervously at his young bishonen companion who walked down the road glaring strait ahead.

Sakura smiled after them for a moment, wondering what Sasuke would be like without Naruto to keep him in line. She had realized during the course of the last fifteen days that, as much as Sasuke had pulled Naruto along, the one who would really be lost when they were separated would be Sasuke.

:::::BREAK:::::

Sasuke and Naruto walked silently, each lost in their own thoughts. They entered the business area of Konoha without a word exchanged between the two of them. Naruto turned towards a supply store and Sasuke found himself unconsciously following him. He sighed inwardly, wondering why he was allowing himself to be dragged around by the blonde so readily. Had it always been this way? He remembered feeling some semblance of control in their relationship. Perhaps that had always been an illusion. When he really thought about it he'd always been pulled into Naruto's pace, slowing down and speeding up as necessary; even in training. Of course now he had a long way to go to catch up.

Naruto had left him behind in more ways than one. He was tall, handsome and, despite his goofy grin and humor-filled eyes, there was a maturity in the way he held himself. Sasuke looked down at his suddenly small-seeming hands. The next five years could be taken to grow in body and power. He had no doubt that if he pushed himself hard enough he could be strong enough to stand at Naruto's side as a partner. So why did the thought of being separated from the blonde make him so uneasy?

Sasuke glanced up to see Naruto grab an instant ramen cup from the shelf and place it in his basket. A grin crept across Sasuke's face when he noticed the basket was brimming over with instant ramen. Across the bottom Naruto had thrown a few containers that could be used to hold water or the like, if there was anything else in the cart it was completely covered by the ramen at this point. The grin widened as Naruto walked further down the isle glancing at yet another flavor. How much ramen did he expect to carry, anyway?

A woman walked down the isle, when she noticed Naruto she blushed brightly, glancing away from him then back again. She was young, probably around twenty, and very pretty. Sasuke glared at her, wondering what the hell she wanted with Naruto. She didn't even spare Sasuke a glance, her eyes remained focused on the blonde, who was still struggling over which ramen to buy. Did she NOT know who Naruto was? Or did she just not care? Glancing around Sasuke noticed that Naruto was the focus of many other stares in the store. Mostly women, each with slight blushes across their face and starry, wistful looks in their eyes; the men who gauzes fell upon him held the more typical looks of contempt and even hatred, but some looked envious and a few even looked interested, much like the women.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, amazed that the man didn't notice the people's stares. Naruto was grinning quizzically up at him, holding two ramen cups, one in each hand. "Ne, Sasuke, I have enough money for one more, should I get chicken or shrimp?"

Sasuke stared at the blonde in a moment of disbelief. "Idiot." He replied, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets and walking past the blonde.

"Bastard." Naruto shot back tossing one of the cups into his cart and laying the other carefully back on the shelf. He walked slowly after Sasuke wondering if the boy would remain angry at him until he left, or, more likely, until he returned in five years. Beautiful, intelligent, cunning; Sasuke was all of these, but he also was one bitter, grudge-holding bastard. The fact that he was being deserted by the second family he'd adopted must have been affecting him in terrible ways. Actually, the thought of leaving Sasuke made Naruto angry, sad and depressed, too, but what else was he supposed to do?

The main problem was really Mina. There was not a doctor in Konoha that hadn't looked her over and none of them could do anything. They'd even had Sai take a look; there was no one that knew what was wrong, let alone how to help. Naruto's only choice was to search for the only person he knew that might be able to do something; his older brother, Tagen. That was why he didn't argue or complain when they told him to leave for a few years.

He blonde bought his supplies and looked at his near empty frog wallet with a heavy heart. He'd saved like a fiend for that much money, not that he had anything in specific that he'd been saving for. He supposed at one point it had been for a wedding, not that he had anyone to marry. He glanced at Sasuke as he turned towards the ramen shop he often frequented. The boy was still aimlessly following him. Naruto grinned as he looked at Sasuke's scowling face; he had just enough money to treat the dark haired boy and himself to their last meal together. Last meal for a few years at least.

"Oi! Isn't that Sasuke?" A deep voice called from behind the two.

Sasuke and Naruto turned to see Chouji and Shikamaru walking up behind them. "Naruto, too." Shikamaru replied in a tone that managed to hold both boredom and annoyance.

Naruto wasn't surprised that Chouji didn't recognize him; they hadn't seen each other since Naruto's change, but he was amazed at Shikamaru's ability to recognize him. "Hey, what's up?"

Chouji was looking at him in a quizzical manner, as if to ascertain that Naruto really was who Shikamaru claimed him to be. He'd, of course, heard about Naruto's 'transformation' but wasn't sure if he believed it until this point.

Shikamaru was eyeing his many, many bags of ramen with a skeptical aura around him. "Are you planning on living off travel ramen for the rest of your life?"

"Hey! Instant ramen is great! It even has dried vegetables and meat stock!" Naruto shot back defensively pulling his ramen closer to his being.

"Where're you guys headed?" Chouji asked hopeful tone to his voice. His stomach had been gurgling since he ran out of snacks some fifteen minutes ago.

"Dinner!" A smile over took Naruto's features at the thought of eating at the ramen shop with Sasuke.

"Dinner?" Chouji replied, even more hopeful tone in his voice. "Bar-b-q?"

"Ramen!" Naruto insisted, glaring at the chubby boy as he resumed his walk towards the ramen shop. "It has to be ramen!"

"But I want bar-b-q!" Chouji moaned as both himself and Shikamaru fell into place next to Naruto and Sasuke.

"You don't have to come, then!" Naruto replied, sticking out his tongue.

"But I'm hungry!" Chouji moaned to the blonde. Naruto sighed; this was not what he'd been planning for his last night in Konoha.

:::::BREAK:::::

Sasuke sighed, it was now getting late. They had sat at the ramen shop for upwards of two hours, and once they finally left Naruto took another half hour to chat with Shikamaru and Chouji. Sasuke had been silent most of the night, opting to glare at whoever tried to draw him into the conversation. As a result, Chouji learned quickly not to talk to the dark haired boy; neither Naruto nor Shikamaru had even attempted to from the start. But it was over now and they were finally alone again and headed towards Sasuke's house. Not that any talking was taking place and the silence was almost worse than being surrounded by those other people.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, noticing the way the blonde was holding his instant ramen as if it were precious cargo. Naruto glanced at him quizzically, and Sasuke looked down, blushing. Why did the blonde have this affect on him?

"Do you remember... this place?" Naruto asked quietly as the road they were walking on entered a more wooded area.

Sasuke's blush deepened and he was glad that it was dark; not that it really mattered, he supposed Naruto could see him quite clearly either way. This was where they'd had their first kiss... only about a month ago. Of course a lot had happened since then; it felt like a different lifetime ago. Sasuke was sure that feeling was even stronger in Naruto.

The blonde stopped walking and Sasuke also stopped, turning to stare at him. "Sasuke, I've been thinking... About leaving and about you... The last few days have been really hard on me. In some ways I was really glad to see you wake up before I left, I wasn't sure I could leave before you woke up, but saying goodbye is hard, too." Naruto sighed, moving to the side of the road and laying down his supplies. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is... I wouldn't leave you if I didn't think it was necessary, but I can't just sit back and watch Mina waste to nothing, I can't let my children live in the same hostile environment I grew up in, I can't let another of my enemies swoop down and attack this place, I can't let innocent people die because of my past; can't let you be in danger because of my past ever again..."

Sasuke stared at Naruto's sad face and walked slowly towards him. When he reached the blonde he balled his fist tightly, pulling it as far back as he could manage. He felt at least some amount of satisfaction when Naruto flew backwards, landing with an 'oof' on his backside. "Idiot." Sasuke rebuked calmly, "This town isn't so weak that it needs you to protect it. Whether you leave or stay won't make a life ending impact on anyone or anything. People die, its part of life, and if it wasn't for your cause than it would have been for something else. I'll tell you this; people don't put their lives on the line for something or someone they don't believe in. If you're leaving to help Mina I'm all for it –I didn't risk my life to protect her for no reason, either. If you're leaving to protect your family, again, that's fine. Great. But if you tell me one more time that you feel responsible for the deaths that happened, or for hurting me, I'll kill you."

Naruto tilted his head back, gazing up at the stars from his position on the ground. If Sasuke knew how much he meant to Naruto he'd probably kill him anyway. Was it wrong to desire to protect the boy? To want to protect Konoha? He laughed, forcing his eyes back towards Sasuke. "Fine, I get it. I understand. But I'm still leaving tomorrow, so there. And, Sasuke? Next time you wanna punch some sense into me don't go full strength." Mock tears formed in the blue eyes, "That hurt!"

"Heh." Sasuke grunted, crossing his arms and staring down his nose at the blonde. "If I'd gone full strength you wouldn't be awake right now, dobe." He walked towards the blonde, reaching a hand down to pull him up.

Naruto accepted the hand, but rather than rising he yanked the boy down on top of him, wrapping his arms around a startled Sasuke. A small smile formed on the blonde's lips as Sasuke relaxed into the embrace.

"I-idiot. What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, resting his head lightly against Naruto's chest.

"Surprise attack," came the muttered reply as Naruto buried his face in Sasuke's hair, carefully breathing in his scent. After a long moment he pushed the boy away slightly so he could see his eyes. "Look, Sasuke... I care a lot about you and that's NOT gonna change. Five years'll feel like nothing to me. I swear, as long as you're here I'll come back for you. If you don't want me around at that point I'll leave. You got five years to decide."

Sasuke snorted, pushing Naruto away from himself and standing. "I don't even want you here now, dobe."

"So cruel!" Naruto cried, face contorting to a pout.

Sasuke smirked, reaching a hand down yet again to pull Naruto up. This time the blonde allowed it. He wasn't quite sure why he enjoyed tormenting Naruto, but seeing his pout made Sasuke feel much happier. He watched as Naruto trudged towards his momentarily discarded purchases, picking them up and resuming his walk towards Sasuke's home. Sasuke's smirk faded as he recalled the dream he'd had and the message in it. "There's something I have to tell you."

Naruto turned a still putting face towards Sasuke, and sniffed. "What? You've crushed my heart so now you wanna kill my first born or something? Well, I'll have you know, Tenmar wouldn't go down without a struggle. Even if he acts silly sometimes, he IS my son."

Sasuke bit back the automatic retort that formed on his lips wondering how Naruto got off calling Tenmar silly. Wasn't that the pot calling the kettle black? He shook his head. "You wanted to know how my wounds healed, right?"

The pout cleared from Naruto's face and almost at once he looked serious. "Hell yeah I wanna know."

"Well, when I went to sleep the second time I had this dream." Sasuke began, walking along side Naruto on the road to his home. Sasuke told Naruto about his dream, about the people he met in it, about how Tagen healed him and about the message that he was told to pass on to Naruto. Once they reached Sasuke's house they immediately went into the kitchen and Naruto started some tea. That had been two hours ago. "I think that if anyone could help Mina it would be that Tagen guy." Sasuke finished, watching Naruto spin the feather he'd picked up from the bird man.

"So, my brothers are alive..." Naruto responded after a long moment. He'd sat quietly through Sasuke's story, but his mind was moving a mile a minute. He jumped to his feet, suddenly feeling very awake and ready for action. "I gotta get Tenmar, we gotta go!"

Sasuke stood, a wave of exhaustion flowing over him. "If you have to go then go, but you'd sure as hell better wait to say goodbye to Sakura and Iruka-sensei before you do. I don't want to deal with their tears if you don't."

"Heh... right." Naruto grinned sheepishly, but Sasuke could feel an excitement radiating off him.

"I... I'm going to bed. Don't make too much noise leaving tomorrow." Sasuke said. The unspoken meaning behind his words hung heavy in the air. He stared at Naruto until he was certain the blonde understood what he meant, 'don't wake me up; I'll let you leave, but don't expect me to see you off.'

Naruto's smile dimmed, but he nodded. "Take care, Sasuke."

"You, too." Sasuke replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking quickly to his room. He crawled into his bed, wide eyes glaring at the ceiling. Suddenly he didn't feel even the slightest bit tired.

:::::BREAK:::::

Morning came far sooner than Naruto had been anticipating. He was barely done squeezing all his instant ramen into packs along with the meal Sakura prepared when the door to the kitchen burst open and through it walked Iruka, Kakashi directly behind him carrying a large bag.

"Sorry, we let ourselves in." Iruka said, moving to stand in front of Naruto. "I was afraid someone would be sleeping, and I know you all need your rest..."

"Tenmar was still sleeping when I last checked in on him, but that was a while ago." Naruto's mouth curved upwards, but his blue eyes were filled with sadness. Iruka was probably the second hardest person for him to say goodbye to. The fact that he'd managed to keep his cool with Sasuke meant nothing before the man that had practically raised him for the last twelve years. Sasuke, at least, had the same 'I'm not going to cry' mindset that Naruto had. Iruka, on the other hand, was unashamedly crying as he walked towards the blonde. Naruto had a hard time holding back the tears when Iruka wrapped his arms around him in a brotherly embrace.

"Are you packed?" Iruka asked as he released Naruto, wiping at his eyes.

Naruto nodded, sniffing and gesturing towards the overflowing packs surrounding him. "We're pretty much ready to go. It's gonna be hard for Tenmar and I to get this stuff TO the others while dragging Mina along, but once we get there everything should be fine."

"We can come with you as far as to Ganten and Uzu's camp." Kakashi responded. "I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura will want to say goodbye to the others, anyway."

"Ah... Ehe..." Naruto scratched the back of his neck, looking down. "Sasuke doesn't want to see us off. He said not to wake him."

"I see." Kakashi and Iruka glanced at each other then back at Naruto. "Well, can't be helped." Kakashi added.

"Anyone awake?" Sakura's tentative voice called from the front door, her head poked into the kitchen. "There you are. Ah, Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, you're already here?"

Naruto took a step backwards as two five eyes landed on him, each displaying varying degrees of sorrow. "Eto... Why don't we go wake Tenmar up and get Mina ready to travel?"

"You do that." Sakura said stepping fully into the kitchen hefting a bag behind her. "I'll get your breakfast set out."

"Breakfast?" Naruto replied, a bit of hesitation in his voice. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Sakura's gesture, but more that stopping to eat a full breakfast would definitely slow them down.

"Yes, breakfast!" Sakura replied, finality in her tone.

Naruto sighed as he lead Iruka and Kakashi down the hall towards the room Tenmar and Mina were in. He had the sinking feeling that he was going to be severely slowed down by the good intentions of his friends. Oh well, at least Uzu and Ganten would probably be ready to leave as soon as they got there this way.

When they opened the door to Mina's room Tenmar was already awake. He turned as the door opened. "Iruka-san!" Tenmar shot to his feet. He apparently hadn't been awake for long, judging from the unruly state of his clothing. His now chin length hair hung in tendrils around his face. "What are you doing here this early?" It was obvious from his smile that he was actually quite pleased.

"I just thought that maybe you two could use our help." Iruka's smile was enough to make Tenmar swoon; if it hadn't been for Kakashi's appearance right behind the brunette Tenmar might have glomped onto the school teacher.

"Hi!" Kakashi waved, wrapping a long arm around Iruka's shoulders. Tenmar glared at the man.

"Tenmar, are you almost ready to go?" Naruto called, breaking into Tenmar's glare at Kakashi time. "I have everything packed so as soon as you and Mina are ready we can head out."

"You've finished packing?" Tenmar's hand reached up to grip Naruto's arm. "Father, did you get ANY sleep last night?"

Naruto waved his son off, shaking his head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll sleep better on the road, anyway. Are you ready to go?"

Tenmar shook his head. "Just give me a few minutes to wash up and get Mina prepared for travel." He shot a sad look towards Iruka, thinking that he would have liked to have had a chance to say farewell.

Naruto grinned at his son's transparency. "Don't worry, Iruka and Kakashi have agreed to come with us to camp, you can say goodbye properly on the way."

"Hai!" Tenmar replied, immediately perking up.

:::::BREAK:::::

Naruto issued a long suffering sigh as he lead what felt like a small army towards the campsite he was to meet his two youngest sons at. THIS was why he wanted to sneak out in the wee hours. After the brief conversation with Tenmar, Naruto and the others had returned to the kitchen to find that Shikamaru had decided to see them off as well... Half way through breakfast one of Hokage-sama's assistants arrived to see if there was anything that could be done to aid them; the man had apologized profusely for the Hogake's absence, but apparently with the town still in a state of disarray the man had a lot to do. After that a small troop of higher level ninja that Naruto was not overly familiar with appeared to make sure that Naruto and his family didn't 'get lost' on their way out of town. Naruto had been expecting these people, most likely lap dogs for some of the lords that had insisted on his short exile.

"Naruto-kun?" Kakashi called, breaking the blonde from his thoughts.

Naruto shook himself, turning his face towards Kakashi. He'd managed to convince the silver haired man that he should help Naruto drag Mina on her stretcher. It might have been slightly underhanded, but he it was also a way to give Tenmar some alone time with Iruka. Although Naruto was certain that the love was one-sided, he still felt a desire to give his son at least that much before they left. "Hai, Kakashi-san?"

Naruto could see the outline of Kakashi's smile through his facial cloth. "Is your mind on the road ahead or back at Konoha?"

"Maybe a little of both." The blonde offered a half smile to his former teacher.

"It's too bad Sasuke-kun decided not to come." The masked man watched carefully as Naruto took in his words.

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, glancing behind the group. There was someone following them in the trees, but there were so many smells around that he was having a hard time telling if it was Sasuke or just some other ninja 'checking up' on them. His eyes caught on Tenmar as he swung them back towards the road. His son was blushing to the roots of his hair and appeared to be stammering something as Iruka smiled patiently at him and responded calmly. Naruto sighed. He honestly hoped that Tenmar found someone else to fixate on before the next five years finished; he had a growing fear that Kakashi may decide to take Tenmar out if he became too persistent. "We're here."

Kakashi looked around eyeing the site they were currently standing. The area was empty, there wasn't even a vague scent of either Uzu or Ganten nor signs of a fire, which he was certain their camp would have, so how was Naruto so certain? "I don't sense anyth-"

"Daddy!" Uzu pounced out of the forest, wrapping his arms around his father. "I've missed you so much!"

Ganten's white head appeared from another part of the forest; in one arm he held Moab, his other hand was wrapped around the torso of a boy Naruto had never seen before. Ganten had a slight smile on his face, the man he was half holding/half dragging did not look quite as happy.

"That must be Rin." Naruto murmured to Uzu, keeping his voice low. Ganten had sent a fox to him as soon as the found the boy, including in his message details on Rin's mind reading abilities and his role in Kentaar's gang. Naruto wasn't quite certain that he was willing to trust someone that worked for his brother, but also wasn't quite certain that he was willing to toss the boy aside into the wild. The world was a harsh place for people with strange powers. Anyway, Ganten didn't seem to think he was any danger and Naruto was prepared to trust his youngest son in this matter. For the time being, at least.

"Yeah, that's Ganten's boy-toy." Uzu grinned. He wasn't quite sure WHY Rin took so well to his brother. The world was a strange place. "He's not too bad looking, but a little low on the personality side, if you catch my drift. I guess that makes them a perfect couple. Cold, aloof and they both got this angry teen thing going, look they're glaring at me. Donno HOW they know I'm talking about them. That kid must be a mind reader." Uzu nodded, waving at the brown haired boy whose face had turned slightly pink.

Naruto sighed. When he sent the fox back to Ganten he had given the boy permission to take in the mind reader, but had asked Ganten not to tell anyone, not even Uzu, about Rin's powers. He was beginning to wonder if it had been a good idea. Because the information was made into a secret it meant that there was a higher chance that Uzu at least would look at Rin with a higher air of suspicion once his secret was made known. That could cause problems in the family structure if anything could. They were going to have to have a long family talk once they were further away from civilization.

Naruto turned his attention back to Uzu, but the red head had disappeared from his side. "Uzu?"

The light laughter of Sakura greeted his ears. "He's over there, bothering Shikamaru. I think he has a crush."

"Just what the world needs, another lovesick Uzumaki..." Naruto smiled as he watched Uzu talk excitedly to the spiky haired boy. At least on Uzu's end Shikamaru didn't seem to be against talking to him and was not already attached. Of course, five years would likely take care of that, but... Naruto watched as Shikamaru offered Uzu a half smile. He had a growing suspicion that Shikamaru had actually shown up to say farewell to Uzu; the two had been hanging around each other a bit. He shook his head, either way Naruto and family were leaving, Shikamaru was staying behind; Uzu was going to be hurt.

"Well, at least he's probably not as bad off as Tenmar." Sakura responded.

They both turned in unison to watch a sad looking Tenmar talk to both Iruka and Kakashi. They seemed to be getting along well in that Tenmar was not glaring at Kakashi nor was he attempting to glomp onto Iruka. It broke Naruto's heart to see the resigned look on Tenmar's usually happy, helpful face, though.

"The happiest child I have right now is Ganten..." Naruto's eyes swung towards the white haired boy who was currently glaring at the Ninja that were still waiting around for Naruto to gather his children and leave. "I'm a failure as a parent, aren't I?"

Sakura patted his head as Naruto slumped to the ground, forlorn look on his face. "Hey, you can't blame yourself. I mean, you weren't even there for most of their childhood!" Naruto's face took on a darker look, and she quickly continued talking, wondering how she could so often get her large foot into her tiny mouth. "I didn't mean it like that, I mean, you're a wonderful father! They wouldn't have risked their lives to find you for all this time if they didn't love you. I mean... ehe..."

"Gottcha." Naruto laughed, looking up at the pink haired girl. "I know I haven't been a very good father, but I have the rest of their lives to make it up to them. They really are great kids..." He shook his head, glancing up, towards the trees. The feeling that he was being watched once again taking over. His eyes caught on a flash of pale skin and for an instant he stared into a pair of beautifully dark eyes and then the figure disappeared. With a slight smile he stepped forward. "I guess it's time to say goodbye." Raising his voice he called to his children, "Come on guys, it's now or never! The sooner we leave the sooner we can get Mina back up!"

There was a chorus of agreement between his children, varying levels of excitement in their voices. There were many tears and many hugs, a few promises were made, but when it was over the Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Shikamaru, the Hokage's servant and the random group of Ninja that were following them stood and watched as the Uzumaki family disappeared slowly into the forest, Uzu and Ganten bickering slightly over who should have to (or more appropriately, should NOT have to) hold baby Moab.

The end

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Sasuke: ... That's it?

Psychic King: Ano... I couldn't think of anything else to say...

Sasuke: ::Advancing on Psychic King:: YOU JUST LET HIM LEAVE??? WHY DIDN'T I BEAT HIM UP AND STOP HIM????

Psychic King: ::Backing away:: Come on, now... Just wait for the epilogue... It'll be good, I promise...

Naruto: ::shaking head:: I want more information, too... You can't just end it there...

Psychic King: WHY don't you read my author's note at the top??? I said, (and I quote myself here) "...there'll be a brief epilogue chapter following this and there WILL BE a BOOK TWO." If anyone's still got questions after reading the epilogue that you think needs addressed than why don't you submit them by e-mail to me and I'll answer on an as needed basis in order from which they were received, OK?

Tenmar: ::Shaking head:: She's in office worker mode again... Who's been letting her read the boy's love office worker mangas again???

Uzu: ::Looking at the ground:: It's not so much that I've been letting her read them, but the boy's love office worker stories are so entertaining, and so I asked to borrow a few and we started reading and...

Ganten: ::smacking Uzu on the head:: Idiot! We told you any time she spent reading manga was time she spent away from finishing up this farce she calls fanfiction.

Psychic King: Well, it's been a long road (almost a year) but Embrace of Solitude has wound itself to the end. There will be a brief epilogue coming very shortly (but it's gonna be REAL brief). And then I'll start book two. Before I do so, I was wondering if there is ANYONE out there that likes editing, having ideas bounced off them etc...?? I'm looking for a Beta reader/pre-reader/peer reviewer... Whatever you wanna call it. Someone to help me catch my numerous word errors, tell me when I'm not making sense, help me through writer's block, etc. What that would involve is me writing a chapter, e-mailing it out to you and then waiting for you to send back an edited copy back with recommendations that I may or may not take (sometimes I have plans for future chapters so things are written a certain way for that purpose). Because I will probably wait to post a chapter until it's been reviewed I need someone that is willing to do it in a semi-timely manner. Of course if I have someone to bounce ideas off of that will make my chapter come out probably at least a little fast... Anyway, enough of my babbling. E-mail me at Psychic underscore King at hotmail dot com (just put the symbols in place of the underlined words... I can't get to show my e-mail address, I think it has it out for me) if you think you're interested and we'll talk, OK? ::Waves:: See ya all in the epilogue!


	26. Epilogue

Aright, it's a little later than I planned, but after writing it I decided that I wanted to sit on it for a night to decide if it was REALLY want I wanted to do with the end of the story. It was and so I am, if that makes any sense at all. Like I mentioned in chapter 25, this is real short, but it sets up a nice little area for explanation in Chapter one of Book two titled... Yet to be Determined. Anyway, enjoy and, please, please, please review at least this chapter as it is the very end (until Book Two, anyway).

Embrace of Solitude

Epilogue

Sakura walked to Sasuke's house with a heavy heart. It had been three days since Naruto left and the dark haired boy wasn't taking it overly well. She knew it would be hard on him especially, but he hadn't left his house since it happened, he was barely eating, he spent all day and night training and from what she could tell he was not sleeping. Sakura had continued her daily visits to his house under the guise of fulfilling the promise she'd made to Naruto as he left that she would take care of Sasuke, but in all honesty she was actually really worried. She knew that Iruka-sensei was also visiting the Uchiha household to check in on Sasuke, and she felt much better knowing that.

"Hello? Sasuke?" She poked her head into his house, not worrying about knocking. She had the distant hope that he may be sleeping and was not willing to risk ruining his slumber if that were the case. Anyway, if her were awake than he should be expecting her, she's been arriving at the same time for the last three days.

She shrugged after checking his room to find it deserted. He was probably out back in the training area. Of course. "Why do I only make friends with troublesome people?" She muttered to herself, walking towards the kitchen. She was beginning to feel like a glorified cook.

Without even bothering to search for Sasuke, Sakura pulled out the groceries she'd brought and began cleaning the vegetables. After a few moments of silence she sighed. "He's training awfully quietly today... I hope he's not hiding somewhere around here so he can jump out at me..." After a moment she shook her head. "No, he's not Naruto. He wouldn't do something like that."

"Sakura-chan?" The sound of Iruka-sensei's voice caused Sakura to jump. She blushed, praying that he by some miracle had not noticed her muttering to herself.

With a forced smile, Sakura pushed the door to the kitchen open, "Hai, Iruka-sensei. What are you doing here right now? I thought you usually stopped by on your way to school."

Iruka smiled reassuringly as Sakura's worried eyes appeared before him. "Ah, no, it's nothing. It's just... Sasuke wasn't here when I stopped by this morning. Is he out back? I just wanted to make sure he was OK."

Sakura's eyes widened and she dropped the carrot she was holding. "I-I don't know... I just assumed, I mean..." She trailed off as both she and Iruka dashed towards the kitchen exit.

"Sasuke-kun?" Iruka yelled as loud as he could, jumping swiftly towards the target practice area. That was where he often was in the morning.

Sakura followed at a slightly slower pace. Her heart was pounding. All she could think was that she'd promised Naruto she would watch over Sasuke and she couldn't even do that. "Sasuke!" She screamed, echoing Iruka, but there was no reply.

Iruka turned towards Sakura, feeling a bit of remorse when he noticed how panicked she looked. He needed to keep his cool or he'd just send her into hysterics. "Sakura-chan, I'm sure everything is alright; he probably just went out. Just in case I want you to go back to my place and get Kakashi, OK?"

Sakura nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Iruka-sensei was right; Sasuke was probably just out shopping. Or maybe he went to see someone; either way he would be fine. "Alright." She replied, already turned and headed towards the apartment Iruka shared with Kakashi.

It took them four hours, and was almost completely dark by the time the three of them found out what happened to Sasuke. It was hidden pretty well, the note he'd left behind. Kakashi had been the one to finally find it, tied to the cutting knife Sakura used when she was cooking; if Iruka had shown up a few moments later they probably would have saved themselves a few hours. The note read simply, "To Whom It May Concern: Joining Naruto, don't look for me."

It was discovered at the same time that Shikamaru was also missing, although no note was left. Talk of assembling a search party ensued and a few small parties indeed went out. They returned empty handed and with Konoha still in disarray from the battle there just wasn't enough manpower for a full blown search. Perhaps if the runaways hadn't gotten at least a ten hour head start or if the search parties knew which direction Naruto had headed they would have had a chance to find them, but as it was, for Konoha, both Sasuke and Shikamaru might as well have disappeared. The only thing that was known for certain was that that there was a faint scent trail headed towards the East.

The Real End

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Psychic King: OK, that's the real end to Embrace of Solitude. Yes, I'm having Sasuke go after Naruto. After much deliberation I decided that I couldn't have them apart for TOO long, although they WILL be apart for a major part of the beginning of the story. As mentioned in my last chapter author comments, I am searching for Beta readers for Book Two which will be titled... I'm not sure yet. Let me get the first chapter done before I run off and title it.

Got questions? Well, let me see if I can help you a bit. Certain things are going to be answered in book two in my own time; these things include, but are not exclusive to the following: What really happened to Kentaar? What the heck's wrong with Mina? Why'd Shikamaru tag along with Sasuke, that spiky haired bastard? What promises were made at the end of Chapter 25 that the evil Psychic King made reference to but never wrote them out because she's communist (not really)? You said there'd be Gaara! I want my Gaara!! OK, not really a question, but there is a Gaara appearance planned, as promised in, what, chapter 1? Anyway, it just takes me a while to get to these things... Any other question that you feel need answering? Come, on, just review or e-mail me and I'll either answer the question through e-mail OR incorporate the answer into a chapter (sometimes I forget that I left a string dangling over here while I'm working over there)...

Now... OK, I've already received questions involving things like "Why'd Naruto have to leave?" I'd prefer not to explain myself, but here goes. I feel that I gave Naruto both a serious and compelling reason to leave; obviously, when faced with a decision of whether to have fun or save a life (especially when that life is your daughter's, or at least your children's sister) a good person would choose to save the life. Now if your question is, "Why'd Naruto leave Sasuke behind?" (A very different question), than please take this into consideration. Naruto is well aware that Sasuke had an ambition; to kill his brother. Naruto also knows that Sasuke will have an almost impossible time of doing that while chasing Naruto around the world, if only because Itachi is most likely not gonna be wherever Naruto ends up. On top of that, Naruto and family's powers are such that, generally speaking, no one else can be taught them. That means that Sasuke can have someone to SPAR against, sure, but he'll pretty much have to invent his own jitsu because there won't be anything that Naruto can really teach him; meaning his powering up process will probably be slow in coming if he goes with Naruto; no quick fixes like someone (::cough:: Kakashi) teaching him already developed jitsu (::cough:: chidori). Anyhow, I felt that Naruto, knowing these things, could not in good conscious either stay or ask Sasuke to go with him; it would be selfish. Sasuke deciding to go with him was another story, which is what I have happening; so really, I think I've redeemed myself to some extent. Anyway, I wanna have fun tormenting- er, I mean, developing their characters while they're apart.

::Bowing:: Anyway, it's been real fun for me as a writer. Thank you for your support and I hope that you all continue to support me throughout Book Two. Once again (not to sound desperate) PLEASE review!!! Last chapter needs a lot of reviews to look pretty. Don't you think?


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